Strictly electronic, yet humane and warm at heart, THE SWEEPS are easily as synthetic – and sweet – as their spaced out synth pop from Hamburg. The trio around dulcet-toned singer Kristina Brodowski and keyboardists Christoph Duwe & Niels Wesner continues to pursue the perfect pop song with a gentle nod to 1980s greats, analogue synths (mostly Italian string machines as CRUMAR or ELKA and monophonic MOOG Synths) and the seminal Fender Rhodes E-Piano. Glockenspiel, an acoustic guitar and even the melodica appear every now and then within the band context. However, the extended version of their track featured here - OPTIMISTIC MELANCHOLIC – (available only on vinyl so far) has been influenced by the Italo Disco heydays (think 1983 / 1984). Thomas Barrandon’s version may not be as optimistic as the original, but dramatically melancholic as it gets: There’s a creepy introduction that has The Cure return to „A Forest„ in a synthetic guise. The refr...