Circuit3

CIRCUIT3 is the synth laden project of Irish musician Peter Fitzpatrick. The Dubliner was recently spotted confessing his love for all things electronic in the BLANCMANGE documentary ‘You Keep Me Round & Round’.

‘siliconchipsuperstar’, the debut album from CIRCUIT3 is unashamedly synthpop in that classic 1978-1982 vein. The calling card ‘New Man’ is a statement of intent, ERASURE’s ‘You Surround Me’ reimagined with the assistance of 21st Century technology alongside vintage bleeps and beats.

With a vintage rhythm machine as its backbone, second track ‘Ghost Machine’ interestingly features lyrics by LA based Irishman Brian McCloskey who hosts the blog ‘Like Punk Never Happened’ which features back issues of the magazine ‘Smash Hits’. Layered in string machine, its treated vocal styling does slightly hint at Midge Ure, as does the vox on ‘Those Who Were Dancing’ with it distinctive DX7 bass sounds dominating proceedings. Meanwhile, ULTRAVOX musically lingers over ‘Reverberate’, thanks to a great Odyssey solo and pads of sweeping vibrato.

‘Darkroom’ adopts some atmospheric detuned pentatonics but parradoxically, ‘One Night In Tokyo’ drives along like a more aggressive ERASURE. The beautiful ‘Blue Diary’ brings together synthetic claps and crisp bell-like counter melodies sourced from a JX8P while on the rich ballad ‘In Your Shoes’, HOWARD JONES makes his influence felt.

CIRCUIT 3 LP+2CDIronically ‘Running Out Of Time’ goes on for far too long and makes an irritating filler but thankfully, the percussive closer ‘Hundred Hands’ is much better. With the sort of mighty Linn Drum engine room that would make Martyn Ware proud and punctuated with some rugged lead synth, there are even some hints of KRAFTWERK’s ‘Showroom Dummies’ dropped in as a musical tribute.

‘siliconchipsuperstar’ is classic styled synthpop made by someone weaned on classic synthpop. This well-produced album is undoubtedly a labour of love and while there are echoes of the past like Clarke, Foxx, Jones, Numan or Dolby, the album is full of futuristic sounds that warble off and on.

CIRCUIT3 is another modern day disciple of the one man and his synth template made possible back in the day with MIDI and digital sequencing. And long may that continue; after all, who wants a drummer taking up all that room in the tour van? - The Electricity Club

A retro-tinged quality debut from Ireland

It’s not every day you stumble upon a debut album that forces you to re-write your best-of-the-year list. In mid-December I came across the recently released ”siliconchipsuperstar”, the debut album by Circuit3 which is the solo project of Dublin based Peter Fitzpatrick. I was instantly hooked!

He’s not trying to hide being influenced by the synth pioneers of the late 70s and early 80s. There are obvious references to John Foxx, Gary Numan, Thomas Dolby and many others from the Synth Britannia era. But it never crosses into plagiarism. It’s all done with an eye for detail and with a personal touch that firmly holds the ten tracks of the album together.

Picking singles from an album that maintains such a high and even quality throughout must have been a difficult task. The three songs chosen so far are ”New Man”, ”Ghost Machine” and ”Darkroom”, all of which are worthy representatives of the album as a whole.

There’s definitely no shortage of singles candidates. If I were to pick a few favourites then ”Reverberate” is one that immediately springs to mind, a song I’m convinced Phil Oakey wouldn’t mind taking on. ”Hundred Hands” is another one that would do well as a single and is also the one I would say is the strongest track on the album.

Another standout track is ”In Your Shoes” which could’ve been a forgotten song by Depeche Mode. It’s not hard to imagine Martin Gore taking the mic on this one. It makes you long for the days when you were tingling with expectation awaiting a new album from the Basildon boys…

”siliconchipsuperstar” is, at least initially, only sold as a limited edition bundle (250 copies) including the album on blue vinyl, CD and download. You also get a seven track bonus CD named ”siliconchipremixes” featuring remixes from the singles which were previously only available as downloads. Remix artists include Jonteknik and iEuropean among others. It’s a beautiful and well-crafted package, both musically and aesthetically, and should appeal to anyone with a soft spot for the artists who pushed the boundaries in the early days of synthpop. - Electro Skull (Sweden)

Take a deep breath and double-take before reading the title to Circuit3’s electro pop opus ‘Siliconchipsuperstar’.

Everything about this album is wrapped in that wonderful retro electro magic.

It’s ten tracks that bring you into the past and then the future, with a nod to pre-Songs Of Faith & Devotion Depeche Mode (which certainly isn’t a bad thing!) - RTE (Irish National Radio) Dan Hegarty's "The Alternative"