We have a rule around here about posting news items about reviews – it’s a bit gratuitous don’t you think? Too meta for meta? – but rules are made to be broken. And if there’s an example of rules being broken, that example is Pepe Deluxé’s genre-tesseracting fourth album Queen of the Wave. So let’s break some rules, shall we?

Vancouver music writer Alan Ranta, who writes for PopMatters, just penned what is less review, more director’s fan’s commentary of Pepe’s new album. Pepe Deluxé shrouds itself in mystery,  but Alan cuts through the fantasy and finds a reality that is just as amazing and weird.

How does one take six years to make an album? How does one make a record that sounds like samples, but doesn’t contain a single one? How does one coordinate an army of multi-national musicians? And what is up with Zailm and his 500,000 volt Tesla Coil anyway?


Consider Alan’s review your guide to the universe of Queen of the Wave – and oh what a universe it is. Sit down, grab a coffee (or Dr. Pepper), and proceed with your reading right…here.

Speaking of firsts, Pepe Deluxé is officially now the first AK band to have released an iPad app! You can download (for free!) here.

And as for the album, you can be listening to it in just a few minutes after you buy it from iTunes here.