If there's a genre called electronica blues, Belleruche's "Shudder and Cry" epitomizes it. DJ Modest's serrated digital beats recall a chain-gang rhythm, while Kathrin deBoer's quivering soprano accentuates the blues flavor as she sings about a wanderer's lost soul. In between, Ricky Fabulous sneaks in suitably spidery guitar licks.
In "Shudder and Cry," deBoer unravels the nightmarish tale of a man who confronts his inevitable demise with such epigrammatic lyrics as, "He says in life it's certain that you must die / It will catch you up and bring you down by surprise," alluding to the protagonist's difficult existence. When she croons the last verse -- "The day he died a smile stretched across his face / Sober eyes lost the yearning and let him rest at ease / His soul found the lost man, returned him home to peace / Lost years, but at the end pure release" -- it's clear that she views death as an act of mercy. The song's true colors become clearer, too, as Fabulous cuts loose a blues-drenched solo while deBoer sings the sorrowful chorus: "It's a crying shame."
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