Dancing in the Dark

Thumping darkwave duo VNV Nation returns to soothe a country torn.

by Helen H. Thompson



Surveying their empire: VNV Nation’s dark world.

Future pop — that dancey fusion of EBM’s stomp-stomp beat, synthpop’s melodies and trance’s rich electronic textures — doesn’t really fit closely with any of its sister genres, particularly in the hands of VNV Nation, whose frontman and songwriter Ronan Harris is just too blisteringly intelligent to be a pop star. He’s just as likely to be talking about the difference between American and European attitudes toward, say, gun control, as their attitudes toward music. But on any front, he’s likely to surprise you.

Take, for instance, last year’s tour with Apoptygma Berzerk: opener VNV Nation completely upstaged the more senior act. Perhaps it was because Harris, an Irishman repatriated to the U.K., has that English-speaking rapport with American audiences. Perhaps it’s because he is very clearly in love with his job. So much so, in fact, that he was not going to let international crises interfere with this year’s headlining tour.

In fact, Harris and bandmate Mark Jackson were quite vocal about sticking with the program, despite the numerous tour cancellations from other artists. "A lot of our fans contacted us and begged us not to cancel the tour because they felt at this time there was a great deal of uncertainty," says Harris in a phone interview from backstage at a show in Germany. "We all felt that after the attack, which was a tragic and horrific thing to happen — and Mark puts this beautifully — if we were to cancel, we might as well say, ‘Let the terrorists win.’"

Harris’ gentle brogue, however, catches with emotion when he’s reminded that one of his songs off last year’s Empires, "Forsaken," was picked up for a flash-animated tribute to Sept. 11 by a nightclub in Sacramento, Calif. (It’s still up on the Web at www.pulselegion.com/sanctuary/tragedy.) "I’m amazed that I wrote a song that expresses something so deeply personal for myself, and that somebody chose it to express the same emotion on a national scale for a national event of this magnitude," he said. "I’m flattered that they found it appropriate, but I hope that a VNV Nation song or any other song is never needed again for such a purpose."

VNV Nation is still finishing up their fourth album, FuturePerfect, which from Harris’ preliminary description seems a concept album steeped in the sort of social commentary you might get if you locked Aldous Huxley and William Gibson in a room together. Harris, however, has long been one to confront us with our own cynicism and demand that we go back into Pandora’s box and resurrect the world we were meant to inherit, born of hope rather than nihilism.

The new material, including the latest singles "Genesis" and "Beloved," has been wellreceived on the European leg of the tour. And, he continues, he’s every bit as excited about the American segment. "We hope that the enthusiasm we saw on the Apoptygma tour will still be there. People in various regions of the States obviously differ from scene to scene, but the enthusiasm is always there. It’s not always about having a party and getting your hands in the air — there’s a full range of human emotion."

There’s also a full range of criticism, Harris concedes. VNV Nation remains a two-person act even on their live shows — Jackson plays drums and Harris sings. But he’s quick to condemn the notion that they are a "karaoke band." "Not everyone is going to like every record we put out, either," he explains. "We set out initially as a two-person project, and we decided that with our live shows we would demonstrate the energy of the music. I’m not sure that a lot of bands that are going on tour with tons of equipment are actually playing it, anyway. We’re not pretending."

Harris writes all the music, as well: He handles the lyrics, the melodies and the programming. Characterized by sweeping string pads, rapid-fire melodic arpeggiations and hypnotic beats, VNV Nation’s more recent releases show Harris’ evolution as a vocalist, relying less on effect processors and more on melodic hooks and lyrics that spring from the metaphor of life as a battle. While other EBM acts still rely on screeches, vocoders and monotonic droning, Harris evokes a raw, gritty emotion with his naked baritone.

It’s there just as he’s bidding goodbye, gravelly, rough and oh-so-subtly Irish. "We’re really looking forward to seeing everybody, that’s the main thing," he says, almost demurely. "I hope that everyone gets to enjoy the show in whatever way they want to."

VNV Nation will perform Sat., Nov. 24, 9 p.m., $20, $25 day of show, with Icon of Coil, DJ VooDooRu and Dark Corner DJ Kiltboy, at The Trocadero, 1003 Arch St., 215-922-LIVE, www.thetroc.com.