DLINA VOLNY + BLACK BORDELLO – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 20.8.25
Amazing as it may sound, Dlina Volny (Длина Волны) aren’t actually the first band to hail from Minsk in Belarus that I’ve seen live in action. That accolade falls to Molchat Doma (Молчат Дома) (which translates as “Houses Are Silent”). Dlina Volny translates as “Wavelength”, which apparently is a homage to their fascination with sine waves and the physics of sound. Although Minsk sounds like an obscure far off land hidden somewhere in north-eastern Europe, that surely can’t have a music scene, you would be mistaken. Minsk is the capital and largest city of Belarus, and as of 2024, it has a population of just under two million people, thus making it the 11th-most populous city in Europe. Minsk was first mentioned in history around 950 years ago and has many wonderful historical buildings and churches, and today it currently boasts 11 theatres and 16 museums, along with 20 cinemas and 139 libraries. It is therefore an ideal location for one to take in some serious culture. So it’s not surprising that when researching Dlina Volny I was made aware of 24 other bands that are or have been located there.
It will come as no surprise that Dlina Volny are a product of their surroundings and like several other Minsk musicians they are inspired by the Soviet legacy, which conjures up grey skies and brutalist architecture, and the band reinterprets synth-pop with a solid coldwave slant. “Brut Pop” is a term I have come across which suits them and Molchat Doma very nicely. Dlina Volny give a nod to early 1980’s Soviet Pop but with a pseudo-modern post-punk vibe. Their music offers electronic rhythms delivered as motoric beats and is very New Wave. The band came into being around nine years ago and consists of Masha Zinevitch on English-speaking vocals, Ales Shyshla on keys, electronic percussion and laptop, and Vad Mikutski on guitar and bass. Their material delves into the post-soviet reality of fear, love and rebellion. Their debut album ‘Mechty’ dropped in 2018, ‘Dazed’ followed in 2021, and their third installment was unleashed this month. This being ‘In Between’ which graces a dozen choice cuts across the platter. It’s a solid body of work and clearly the trio also think so and are here this evening at Brighton’s Prince Albert in order to promote it as part of a select half-dozen UK tour dates.
‘In Between’ is very much the focus of this evening’s 52 minute 14 tune performance which ran from 9:40pm until 10:32pm. They play three-quarters of the album, that’s 9 of the 12 songs, with 4 of the remaining 5 tracks being culled from their previous long-player. According to their setlist the tall black-clad trio begin with a tune listed as ‘Pop’ which I can’t see listed anywhere. But what I do know is that the whole sound could be louder, there’s absolutely no chance of tinnitus this evening! The backing tracks from the laptop are slightly muffled as compared to the live instruments, which is a shame. Masha’s vocal delivery reminds me of Blitz Club New Romantic artist Ronny, as well as The Velvet Underground’s Nico. There’s a small unit attached to her microphone stand which she taps from time to time, so I’m guessing that this could be an effects unit as opposed to simply being the lyrics. Masha dramatically moves with the delivery of every line, and it’s an engrossingly theatrical performance. Her vocals are ethereal and nicely set atop the drum machine style backing.
We are next served eight in a row from the new album, commencing with ‘Midnight’ which is a retro darkwave affair, consisting of a deep vocal delivery sitting atop the booming beats and New Order style bass guitar backing. Overall it reminds me of Canadian act Psyche from back in the day, which is a positive thing. ‘Now & Again’ follows and has a slightly faster goth/darkwave drum machine style backing beat often used by acts of this ilk. Once again Psyche springs to mind. ‘Never The Same’ is their next selection and is quite like Annie Lennox singing above a booming goth beat, with Peter Hook style bass. ‘Dance Me Away’ immediately grabs my attention with its keys intro beat and then Masha’s deepish Nico style vocals commence and they have an Arabic vibe, like Gary Numan’s recent output such as ‘My Name Is Ruin’. Vad’s input is not far off early Cure and Ales’ keys are superb.
‘Chant’ is up next and the beat has quickened and I hear a Depeche Mode style backing beat, but overall this reminds me of darkwave tracks I used to listen to about a decade ago. I’m totally thrown next as Masha announces that the next tune is sung in Belarusian and I know the next one according to their setlist is in English. In fact Masha’s English is absolutely perfect and you arguably wouldn’t actually know that she hails from foreign lands. There’s an electronic backbeat with strummed bass on this track. ‘Flair’ follows and is I believe the first tune of theirs I ever heard and it benefits from haunting keys with a constant beat and sensual vocals atop, suffice to say it’s one of the set highlights for me. The album title track, ‘In Between’, is the trio’s next choice and it cuts a haunting melody with The Cure style guitar backing, it’s a slow chugger compared with the previous number, and Masha’s vocals certainly show off her prowess here. ‘Bliss’ picks up the beat again and reminds me of Antipole, especially the “Away to the sun” lines, although this does also conjure up thoughts on the sun rising in Ibiza.
The first of the cuts from their ‘Dazed’ album comes next with the arrival of ‘Do It’ and its fabulous keys and vocal delivery. It reminds me of another artist, but I sadly fail to remember who. The song’s title is often repeated and it works its way into your consciousness and is an obvious choice for another set highlight, it’s a very strong tune. ‘A13’ from their ‘In Between’ album is showing next on the setlist, but I think this just passes me by. However ‘Redrum’ from ‘Dazed’ certainly doesn’t do this as the sliding Korg electronic keys notes are right up my street, and Masha’s vocals have an erotic feel. Imagine a slow chugging darkwave styled version of Lil Louis’ ‘French Kiss’ meets the Vile Electrodes with added red wine and you are there! It’s a superb tune and is THE set highlight! ‘Hollywood’ from the same album is next and the beat reminds me of Bronski Beat’s ‘Smalltown Boy’. It’s a dancestyle song which one would have expected to have dented the Eurodance Charts across mainland Europe. ‘What Happens Next’ is showing on their setlist but I’m not actually sure they even played it. It’s been a great set, but I just wish it had been louder!
Dlina Volny:
Masha Zinevitch – vocals
Ales Shyshla – keys, electronic percussion, laptop
Vad Mikutski – guitar, bass
Dlina Volny setlist:
‘Pop’ (unreleased)
‘Midnight’ (from 2025 ‘In Between’ album)
‘Now & Again’ (from 2025 ‘In Between’ album)
‘Never The Same’ (from 2025 ‘In Between’ album)
‘Dance Me Away’ (from 2025 ‘In Between’ album)
‘Chant’ (from 2025 ‘In Between’ album)
‘Flair’ (from 2025 ‘In Between’ album)
‘In Between’ (from 2025 ‘In Between’ album)
‘Bliss’ (from 2025 ‘In Between’ album)
‘Do It’ (from 2021 ‘Dazed’ album)
‘A13’ (from 2025 ‘In Between’ album)
‘Redrum’ (from 2021 ‘Dazed’ album)
‘Hollywood’ (from 2021 ‘Dazed’ album)
‘What Happens Next’ (from 2021 ‘Dazed’ album)
Support this evening came from London based Brighton loving Black Bordello who I have had the pleasure of seeing live before, so I knew what to expect from their 8 tune set. The music is the brainchild of Sienna Bordello who emerged from the pandemic with a self-titled debut album in Spring 2020. None of the other players on that album are in the band today, and they have had another change since I saw them just three months ago, with bassist Indigo Pearce being replaced by Henry Thompson. The trio of other musicians remain the same, these being Jerome Alexandre on lead guitar, Daniel Gowers on drums and backing vocals, and Melody Wayfare on synth, piano and backing vocals.
Whenever folk witness Black Bordello, there always seems to be a buzz around the room once they have finished playing. Tonight is no exception, with punters idly standing around at the beginning and then being absorbed into Sienna’s world at the end. It’s no wonder why they have already secured support slots for the likes of The Libertines, Goat Girl, Bad Nerves and Fat Dog. On the connections front, their 2021 ‘Nunhead’ single was actually recorded at Damon Albarn’s Studio 13 and remixed by David J Haskins, bassist of the legendary goth group Bauhaus. A second Black Bordello album arrived last October and this was titled ‘White Bardo’ and half the tunes this evening come from this.
Black Bordello appear to be ploughing their own unique furrow and their metamorphic brand of alternative rock is enchanted with elements of vaudevillian chamber pop, post-punk, avant-garde gothic rock and progressive rock. This outfit doesn’t specialize in three minute pop tunes, they are more in depth than that. They once again show their solidarity with each other and the fact they are a unit by having small black crosses daubed on their foreheads. I’m a massive lover of keyboards and I’m pleased to see Melody positioned behind a Nord Electro 3 and a Korg, which adds to my enjoyment of their set.
They begin with ‘Acid Mary’ from 2024’s ‘White Bardo’ album. This has a slow build up and Melody’s contribution initially reminds me of Nico’s haunting ‘Janitor Of Lunacy’. The tune then heads off into another direction entirely and I’m now reminded of Grace Jones’s rendition of The Pretenders ‘Private Life’, prior to the song becoming a more rocky affair. Black Bordello keep you guessing as to which direction they are going to be heading in next, so you need to keep on the ball, in order to fully enjoy this quintet. ‘The Garden Of Earthly Delights’ from ‘White Bardo’ is song two and there’s a lot going on here on this drumming led tune, which you would expect to have been used as a backing for a psychedelic vintage horror movie. Track three is ‘Prufrock’ from 2020’s ‘Black Bordello’ album and this has a late hippy vibe with its swinging beat. The tune then goes mournfully slow before erupting in sound, and then heads back to the original beat. It benefits from some enjoyable joint vocals from Sienna and Melody. I noted that Daniel had switched to drumsticks with cotton pads on the end for this tune.
‘Spectre Man’ from their self-titled album is the quintets next selection and this we are informed is about depression and it vocally somehow reminded me of Crystal Gayle’s ‘Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue’. Then came ‘Love Is A Joke’ from ‘White Bardo’ with its skippy foot-tapping beat and for me it’s the best tune thus far. The unreleased ‘Yellow Flower’ is announced as the next presentation and that Sienna is keen on our reaction to this. When I last saw them three months ago, we were only the second audience to hear it played then, as it was penned the week before. It’s a jaunty beat changing number littered with Kate Bush vocal vibes in certain places throughout, and the psychedelic delivery of “mother father get behind me” reminded me of Hazel O’Connor.
Sienna then informs us that they are going to play another new composition next and according to their setlist it’s called ‘Numblock’. For this Daniel switches to the electronic drumpads instead of the actual drums and it’s a sound I very much like. It vocally has the same air as Adele’s James Bond ‘Skyfall’ theme tune, and the Korg keys are a pleasure and the unit keeps us guessing as to where the beat is going to head off to next. They sign off with the yet to be released ‘Daddy Issues’, which Sienna tells us that it was inspired by “a mushroom trip” she had with the mother, and during the said trip, her mother told her that Sienna has “Daddy issues” and thus the song of the same name was born. Musically it’s a combination of a historical fairground ride theme meets Siouxsie and the Banshees tune. Sienna captured the whole room with her stage presence and delivery. It then dawns on me that Black Bordello are London’s answer to Brighton’s Le Lamb but without the bleating.
Black Bordello:
Sienna Bordello – vocals, guitar
Jerome Alexandre – lead guitar
Daniel Gowers – drums, backing vocals
Melody Wayfare – synth, piano, backing vocals
Henry Thompson – bass
Black Bordello setlist:
‘Acid Mary’ (from 2024 ‘White Bardo’ album)
‘The Garden Of Earthly Delights’ (from 2024 ‘White Bardo’ album)
‘Prufrock’ (from 2020 ‘Black Bordello’ album)
‘Spectre Man’ (from 2020 ‘Black Bordello’ album)
‘Love Is A Joke’ (from 2024 ‘White Bardo’ album)
‘Yellow Flower’ (unreleased)
‘Numblock’ (unreleased)
‘Daddy Issues’ (unreleased)
