We Become Strangers is the debut EP from the new darkwave project, The Bleak Assembly, a collaboration between Kimberly of Bow Ever Down and Michael Smith of Fiction8. While there are a few electronic textures here and there, We Become Strangers is straight-up post-punk and darkwave. Guitars, drums, and songwriting with hooks for days. This EP sits more comfortably alongside Siouxsie & the Banshees, ACTORS, and Bootblacks than it does VNV Nation or Covenant.
Add to that list Skeletal Family, Ghost dance, later March Violets. It’s pure vintage mid-80s goth.
Regarding the nature of ‘change’ that inspired the EP, Michael Smith states, “if there’s a theme to this EP, it’s in recognizing how we’ve changed as artists and as people. What if you met your younger self and your younger self didn’t even recognize you? That’s what We Become Strangers is about. Kimberly goes on to say, “It’s a strong feeling of ‘being cut from the past’. It’s a little alienating but also very liberating.”
Listen here. Do:
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Aural Aggravation 