Ball of Wax 49 Songs: Anika Reichert & Matthew Brown – “Burn Down”

Ball of Wax newcomer Anika Reichert joins Seattle-to-Hamburg transplant Matthew Brown on “Burn Down,” a smoldering* piece of synth-and-drum-machine-based pop. The sedate, yet propulsive backing tracks are somewhere between John Carpenter and Depeche Mode (a pretty damn good place to be, if you ask me), and Reichert delivers the vocal with a Teutonic remove that eschews overt emotion without seeming bored or disaffected. Her clear, cool voice floats above the churning musical bed beautifully, making for an eminently listenable song. Reichert and Brown have crafted something new and delightful from heavily-mined nostalgic musical territory, always a neat trick.

*Sorry, I typed that without consciously thinking about the song title, but I’m leaving it.