Altered Images - Mascara Streakz (2022)

Altered Images make their triumphant return after four decades away with their stellar fourth album ‘Mascara Streakz’.
Recorded during the second UK lockdown at the height of the pandemic, the LP sees vocalist Clare Grogan and her collaborator/husband Stephen Lironi, along with The Bluebells’ Robert Hodgens and former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, bring the group’s classic sound up to date with a standout set of original electro pop tunes.

Kicking off with lead single and title track Mascara Streakz, it presents a blueprint for the project, with a synth-pop melody and contemporary beats that pick up where the group left off almost 40 years earlier while offering an evolution from the band’s original spiky guitar pop style.

With a lively, uptempo core running through the collection, the record offers escapism from the mundane realities of life to a fantastical world backdropped by shimmering synths and pulsing beats that defy you to relinquish responsibility, give in to your inhibitions and immerse yourself in the music.

Take Colour of My Dreams, for example, which sees Clare overcome the “black and white” of everyday life in favour of “psychedelic dreams,” as she insists: ‘If you don’t see me then you’re not worth my gaze’.

Glitter Ball is another all-out pop gem, celebrating the freedom and liberation that comes from dancing on the club floor to a killer tune, while the bouncy Double Reflection is a defiant anthem for living life on your own terms.

Alongside the storming pop anthems on ‘Mascara Streaks’ is a set of mid-tempo tracks, reminiscent of the sounds of the early 1980s, such as Changing My Luck and The Flame, both of which are underpinned by killer basslines and shimmering synths that balance out the collection, once again bringing Altered Images’ classic sound into the 21st century.

Closing with the album’s sole ballad Sleep – a lush, wistful electronic number that showcases Clare’s unchanged vocals – it shows a different side to the band’s sound in 2022, highlighting their versatility and brilliant ability to tackle different sounds with ease.

After a near-40-year absence, Altered Images faced their biggest challenge yet – staging a comeback that would appease fans who have waited 40 years for a follow-up to their 1983 album ‘Bite’ and appeal to a new generation of listeners that is leaning into the sounds of the 1980s off the back of chart trends and cultural phenomena such as ‘Stranger Things’.

While today’s artists are drawing influence from classic records, Clare and co. excel in modernising their signature sound while remaining faithful to their roots, for a set that blends perfectly with the group’s classic output and holds the essence of Altered Images close to its heart.

Tracklist
1. Mascara Streakz (4:09)
2. Red Startles the Sky (3:22)
3. Colour of My Dreams (4:15)
4. Glitter Ball (3:41)
5. Your Life is Mine (4:24)
6. Home (3:30)
7. Beautiful Thing (3:36)
8. Changing My Luck (3:57)
9. Lost of Love (3:44)
10. Double Reflection (3:27)
11. The Flame (4:01)
12. Sleep (3:49)