Frankmusik: 'Complete Me'

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When it comes to musical endeavours, there is little that 24-year-old Vincent Frank hasn't already tried. A multi-instrumentalist, award-winning beat-boxer and remixer of choice for the Pet Shop Boys and Alphabeat, it came as no surprise when, as Frankmusik, he was snapped up by Island Records last year. Since then he's been transformed from leftfield, slightly unhinged electro genius into a more preened popstar with chart-conquering potential, a transition quite apparent on this debut album.

Under the guidance of producer Stuart Price, the Frankmusik sound has been streamlined into a smart, seamless mix of synths, beats and jagged melodies. Heralding the change is recent single 'Confusion Girl', once a frantic and off-beat floor-filler, but now a glossy, radio-friendly number that manages to retain much of the original's flair. Likewise, 'Gotta Boyfriend' and '3 Little Words' may have been through the drier since first appearing online, but the quirky, almost crazed essence that gave Frankmusik his initial cult popularity remains.

What helps Complete Me to stand out from the glut of electropop records currently dominating the charts is the powerful emotional undercurrent that binds it together - this is very much a break-up record, and it's very much therapy for Frank. 'Vacant Heart' is the sort of power ballad that most male popstars would struggle to pull of convincingly; the dark, brooding 'Run Away From Trouble' finds the artist at his most emotionally raw, and 'Complete Me', with its bombastic falsetto hook, compares his break-up to the world collapsing in.

Best of all, the balance between Frank's unflinching emotional honesty and the crazed, chaotic production on the upbeat moments gives this record - without sounding too cheesy - a complete feel. The blood, sweat and tears that clearly went into making it have paid off for Frankmusik, who proves that beyond all his other talents, he makes a bloody good popstar too.


> Click here to watch Frankmusik perform 'Confusion Girl' and '3 Little Words' for DS Sessions