The Controls

The Controls make music that rides a fine line between raw, streetwise funk and breezy pop atmospherics. Influenced by everything from New York's underground rap world to new wave legends the Cure, their debut album "one hundred" is a blissed-out collage of beats, haunting vocals and rhymes; an exciting work from two promising new musicians. The band is controlled by a pair of 21-year old Manhattanites: beat-maker Mike Delaney, a.k.a Dub-L, and chanteuse Ann Colville. The pair met in 1996 through friends who thought they might make a good couple, but both discovered they shared a stronger musical bond. Dub-L's blunted hip-hop constructions melded perfectly with Colville's poetic lyrics and a band was born. As producer, Dub-L uses an arsenal of instruments to create his sounds. He mixes live oboes, acoustic guitars and strings over a foundation of chunky beat loops and scratchadelic sound effects. Dub-L doesn't ignore his roots in the hip-hop world either, employing guest rapper Aesop Rock for a tongue-twisting verbal exhibition on "Shere Khan" and "Home Again." Colville brings her enthralling voice and knack for emotional, echoing melodies to The Controls. Her work on the album has a catchy pop sensibility to it, while her delicate timbre resonates throughout the songs. Her unique delivery paints an inventive singing style allowing her words to linger in the listener's head. Drawing insight from Nostradamus's predictions of a coming global apocalypse, The Controls paint a tense picture that is both bleak and optimistic, describing a world where numbers and technology regulate pleasure. This is thought-provoking music, and anyone who digs gimmick-free sounds will be enthralled by the enigma of The Controls. In addition to their Sm:)e recording deal, The Controls have been signed to a worldwide publishing/production deal by RZA of the Wu-tang Clan.