Ville Valo: the rock’n’roll Barry White returns with a luscious love-metal soundtrack

May the lovelorn and plain old horny of the alternative world rejoice, for the rock’n’roll Barry White has returned with a luscious new love-metal soundtrack for your seductive pleasure. Wash your hands, you filthy animals.

He may be flying solo these days, but there was no way Ville Valo was going to betray the tried and tested HIM formula. Neon Love is a sumptuous chocolate box of synth-drenched, poetic, gothic pop-rock that is often obscenely catchy – Run Away From The Sun has a billowy 80s blockbuster-soundtrack vibe to… well, take your breath away – while a lingering sadness offers a sense of mascara-streaked drama. 

Heartful Of Ghosts is particularly atmospheric, sliding into wailing guitar licks that howl like Cathy at the window on the desolate moors, while Saturnine Saturnalia ups the ante further with a pounding outro.

As we hunker down in the long, cold, dark winter nights, Neon Love is a brazenly glam collection to light the way towards spring.

Source: loudersound.com