AMG Review of Exit 110

William Ruhlmann
All Music Guide

Poetica, the first full-length album by iiO, was released in 2006 on the heels of the announcement that the duo of instrumentalist Markus Moser and singer Nadia Ali had broken up. Five years later, Exit 110 is actually a reunion despite its ominous title, and pointedly bears the credit "Featuring Nadia Ali." The synthesized dance-pop is of a type that could have been made any time since the 1980s and, in fact, comes off as something of an homage to the earliest post-disco dance music, with Moser maintaining his BPMs and delivering no-nonsense Hi-NRG synth tracks. Ali is an expressive singer, but no more expressive than many. Exit 110 is certainly danceable, but it may not stand out in the field in 2011.