Posts Tagged ‘dancefloor’

Tiny Magnetic Pets – Astralux EP

Posted: 25 August 2026 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
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21st August 2026

Christopher Nosnibor

For their latest EP release, prolific Irish electronic / synthwave outfit Tiny Magnetic Pets give us a remix of ‘Lost My Guiding Light’, which first appeared on their second album, way back in 2017. It’s a reasonable amount of time to leave before revisiting a song, and as Sean Quinn (synths, guitar & vocals) explains, “When we play live we like to do different versions from the records. Last year, we were asked to play a dance music festival in Dublin, so we re-arranged the opening track from our second album Deluxe/Debris for an EDM audience, and it has now become the opening tune to our live shows,” going on to add “We re-recorded this new version in 2026 and we feel it is significantly different from the original to warrant its own release and slight re-title: ‘Lost My Guiding Light (Again)’ – a wee nod to Bowie’s John I’m Only Dancing (Again).”

It’s hard to argue that it’s substantially different from the original, not to mention the fact it’s two and a half minutes longer. The rippling, drifting ambient intro is extended out on this new version, and the beats – beefier, more driving – paired with a more prominent cyclical synth motif that owes much to late 90s dance – change the overall feel more than anything, and while the extended mid-section twinkles and shimmers, it doesn’t haver the same ethereal shimmer as the original. This is the trade, and a matter of preference, really: understated textural detail, or a more expansive, sturdier-sounding rendition.

It’s backed with not one, but two remixes of ‘Low Places’ courtesy of Dakeyne. The original was released just last year, as the lead track on the Harmonious Grey EP. A collision of dark disco and electropop, it boasts a thick, rumbling bass sand bops along nicely. Not so much the first of the Dakenye remixes, which sees a hard, industrial-strength beat dominate an extremely busy arrangement crammed with niggling repetitions. It’s clearly more club-orientated, but do such clubs even exist nowadays? Still, I’d take this over the Dakenye Acid Dub mix, which – being a dub – strips out most of the vocals and everything else in favour of the monotonous kick drum, wibbling bass, and occasional incidentals. Maybe Acid Dubs require actual acid rather than a couple of cans of West Coast IPA. Ultimately, this feels like something of a stop-gap release.

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SEXSOMNIA – Forbidden EP

Posted: 3 September 2025 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
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25th August 2025

Christopher Nosnibor

SEXSOMNIA is a name which is both evocative and provocative. Sex certainly sells, but somnia is concerned with sleep-related conditions, including hypersomnia, insomnia, and apnoea, so the implication of combining the two is something to ponder while we pile into this EP from the Canadian darkwave / electro / post-punk hybrid act, joined here by special guest Marita Volodina of Poland’s Stridulum on vocals.

The title track kicks it off and does so in fine style, too, combining all the best elements of synth-oriented darkwave, brooding post punk, and goth, combining a shadowy atmosphere with a throbbing bass groove and pulsating beat that’s perfectly matched to the themes of seduction and desire, the dark allure of ‘forbidden love’. The instrumentation – and vocal delivery – on ‘Vapour’ is, fittingly, more ethereal, a piano snaking through the mix against a brush of an acoustic guitar, but the beats are straight-up stompers, and thoroughly relentless. The interplay between Philip Faith’s baritone croon and the sultry contributions of another guest vocalist, Isabelle Young, are key to the way it draws the listener in beyond the pounding dance percussion.

The ‘shadow mix’ of ‘Forbidden’, which they describe as ‘a deconstructed version of the original track, made for dancefloors’, was, in fact, released first, and it’s quite different. Fully twenty seconds longer, more overtly electronic, the vocals are louder and clearer in the mix, more lascivious-sounding, and paired with the rippling synths and pumping beats, it’s one to raise the pulse and work up a sweat to.

ATTRITION’s remix of ‘Nigrum Viduadm’, which featured on last year’s debut album, Transcendent is altogether sparser, darker, more ominous, more overtly gothic with what one might perhaps describe as vampiric overtones. It works well here because it showcases a very different side of the band, even if all of their sides are dark in intent.

This EP doesn’t break new ground, but does draw together the elements with a rare precision and panache, which sets SEXSOMNIA apart from their peers. As for the band’s name… there’s no danger of falling asleep while listening to their work, but you might just wake up feeling horny afterwards.

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