Synesthesia serves as a companion to Chemical Playschool Volumes 11, 12 and 13, with eight indexed tracks, 57 minutes total, and 28 minutes worth of Premonitions smack dab in the middle. Niels and Martijn are credited with horns, guitars and violin but there's certainly an absence of evidence to prove it. Like Ka-Spel and The Silverman's solo efforts, the dominating sound is electronic via synths, samples and programmed drums and the majority of the album is instrumental sound pieces. 'Shining Path' and 'The More It Stays the Same' are the two lyrical songs, delightful ones at that, but even they dissolve into audio experimentation. The Premonitions are, as always, fantastic escapes. Numbers 26 and 28 range from the faintest stirrings of mist and found sound to angry resonance and rhythmic clickety-clack. The closer, 'Kalos Melas', features the cutest marching melody you'll likely hear this year. To my ears "Synesthesia" sounds very polished, much more so than the CP set, possibly negating the theory that these were the outtakes. It's just further proof, as though more were even needed, of two things: the Dots are both song crafters and sonic sculptors and they're as creatively sound as ever. - Mark Weddle, Brainwashed