Los Angeles – based dark electronic band, SLEEK TEETH have just unveiled ‘Endless’ from their forthcoming EP due out in October, 2024.
‘Endless’ is a danceable, darkwave offering with an anthemic chorus. The lyrics explore the unpredictable paths we sometimes find ourselves on as well as the rewards and perils of letting go of expectations and embracing uncertainty.
Get your lugs round it here:
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Released on Monday (29 July 2024) ‘Please Reply’ is the third promo single release from UK “synth and darkwave firebrands” 404 Error, taken from their debut album, Scene Killers. Hailing from Newcastle upon Tyne in Northern England, 404 Error is the semi-anonymous project of an artist known as 36663. ‘Please Reply’ meanwhile features an animated black and white lyric video, by someone credited only as Arif.
Known for sharp social commentary and provocative takes on goth scene politics, Please Reply is a pastiche drawn largely from the cesspool of unsolicited messages. Drawing from the biting social satire of Fad Gadget and Heaven 17, the lyrics sketch a man in his mancave, desperate and crude, yearning to be a woman’s submissive partner. His attempts to get her attention are filled with insincere promises and disrespect. He calls himself a nice guy, but his focus is selfish, driven by his own needs and desires, completely ignoring her boundaries or interests.
Watch the video here:
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“I think it’s terrible that women get messages like these. And I know many receive much worse, but I didn’t want to make the song too vulgar. I know a lot of women, especially goth women, who get strange guys addressing them as Mistress, or wanting to be their slave – even if there’s nothing they’ve said or done to signify that they’re even into fetish/BDSM. Some have had open propositions for pictures of their feet. And of course, many of these guys also try to guilt trip, hence the line “It’s so hard for men like me, nice guys just want a chance”. As if there’s anything ‘nice’ about propositioning a stranger.”
“I find it hard to say whether I even wrote this song, or if the lyrics are just the contents of far too many inboxes.”
The digital single on Bandcamp includes two bonus “virtual B-side” tracks: ‘Hawk Tuah’, and a cover of ‘Chop Suey’ by System of a Down.
“Hawk Tuah was a bit of fun that I didn’t know if I’d release. The problem with viral memes is they become old very quickly. But given the person in question is currently living her best life getting paid big money for club and TV appearances, I’d say people are still interested. Gosh knows how many messages she’s had from ‘Please Reply’ guys.”
‘Chop Suey’ meanwhile continues 404 Error’s tradition of rendering nu-metal covers barely recognisable (albeit, arguably more intelligible than the originals): a pattern established with a rendition of Slipknot’s ‘Wait and Bleed’, included with the debut single ‘ETHAL’. And where ‘ETHAL’ featured a guest vocalist known as J.A.N.E., ‘Chop Suey’ features vocals by one MXVC.
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Seattle ‘turbowave’ pioneers, DUAL ANALOG have dropped their new single, ‘Dharmachakra’ – a raw reflection on modern day apocalyptic hellscape of independent artists. It’s an autobiographical anthem that captures the frustrations and struggles of today’s independent musicians.
With introspective lyrics that resonate deeply with anyone who has faced the uphill battle of booking gigs and finding an audience, DUAL ANALOG paints a vivid picture of the modern-day challenges faced by independent artists. This also comes though dynamic instrumentals, showcasing the band’s unique sound and unyielding spirit.
Says DUAL ANALOG co-founder, Chip Roberts, “We wanted ‘Dharmachakra’ to reflect that struggle and the sense of futility that often accompanies it. It’s a raw and honest portrayal of what it’s like to pour your heart into your art, only to feel like you’re shouting into the void.”
Fans of DUAL ANALOG can expect a visceral listening experience that not only highlights the band’s diversity but also speaks to the collective experience of struggling artists everywhere. With ‘Dharmachakra,’ DUAL ANALOG invites listeners to share in their journey and reflect on their own battles within the music industry.
Listen to ‘Dharmachakra’ here:
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‘Pagan Synth’ duo, ESOTERIK has just unveiled their new single, ‘Mentor’ from the forthcoming EP, Archetypes.
For the next installment of the EP, ESOTERIK explores the insight and experience the ‘Mentor’ has to offer. Get lost in the hypnotic groove but heed the advice of the Mentor for it’s the end of suffering. It’s a beacon in the darkness calling you from the illusive world of form. It’s a voice that’s behind the incessant stream of thoughts; a gentle nudge with a firm but helping hand. The choice has always been yours all along. Will you be a listening ear, or will you flounder in the chaos?
On the upcoming EP Archetypes, the band examines the tropes that have weaved a thread across societies for centuries. “It’s such an interesting topic and really highlights the power of language whether written or passed down via word of mouth. The legends hold a commonality that span through time and culture. Before the world was connected by technology, these stories held the experiences and wisdom for generations to come. Whether they are steeped in symbolism or ritual, the lessons are still infused and if sensational that only ensures the survival beyond our limited life spans.”
Check ‘Mentor’ here:
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Skoghall Recordings – 5th April 2024
Christopher Nosnibor
I don’t really know too much about this release. It came my way via one inbox or another, with a download, but no cover art, no press release. And for some reason, I had expected it to be longer. But it’s a Skoghall release, and features Dave Procter (Legion of Swine, Dale prudent, Wharf Street Galaxy Band, etc ad infinitum) and some mates.
We’re looking at a couple of tracks, both short of five minutes. Nothing wrong with that – there’s a lot to be said for keeping things simple, and keeping things concise. Do I need the backstory, an essay on the contributors and their backgrounds? No, no I don’t. No-one does, really.
I do feel we’ve become altogether excessively invested in the wrong details in recent years. Time was when an act could release a record, it would be reviewed on its merits, or it’d slip under the radar and all we’d have would be the music. There would often be no mention of who did what on the record., and there would of course be no website, no source by which to obtain details of personnel or a bio. Nowadays, journos – people like me, although I don’t consider myself a music journalist by any means – get picked up on the slightest inaccuracy, we get asked to change spellings and correct who played bass, amend the cover art and the release date… This is not right. The press’ purpose is to independently proffer opinion, to critique, and where facts are missing, perhaps plug the gaps with assumptions, why not? While reviews are a part of the promotional cycle, it’s important – at least for me – to be apart from it all. In short, press is not PR, and should on no way feel obliged to give frothingly enthusiastic reviews simply because they’ve received an advance copy.
I digress, and admit that I tend to provide positive coverage of the releases which come my way which I like, rather than slapping down the releases I’m less keen on. When you get fifty or more submissions a day, you can afford to be selective, and besides, life is short and I’m not going to spend mine squandering energy on stuff I have no interest in.
I have a strong interest in this, though.
What’s on offer are two slices of minimalist electropop with a keen late seventies / early eighties feel. A single droning note hangs throughout the first track and a drum machine clips and clops away recreating the sound of early Young Marble Giants – only here, Procter drones and stutters a blank, low vocal delivery, half-robotic, half crooning, and drifting astray in a swamp of reverb.
The (virtual) flipside is dronier, noisier, a serrated-edged grating drone providing the backdrop to a challenging piece where a clanking percussion saws away and Procter rants -away in the background, again, immersed in reverb and low in the mix – about control and its uses and abuses. Now you’ve got control… what are you going to do with it? He asks, antagonistically.
The answer, well, it depends on who you’re asking. Power is a difficult thing, and – so hark back to an early SWANS track, what we see is power for power’s sake – use and abuse, but more of the latter. Show me – when was power last used for benevolence? I don’t want to be dragged down in this now, and there is plenty of mainstream outrage in circulation, so let’s get back to the release.
It’s succinct, it’s tense, it’s uncomfortable. Bring on ‘Two’.
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Distortion Productions – 8th March 2024
Christopher Nosnibor
Metamorph have made their way onto these virtual pages a couple of times with previous single releases, most recently ‘Witchlit’ just over a year ago to the day as I write this. And, it turns out, this single was the very long lead-in for this long-player, which comprises seven new tracks which follow ‘Witchlit’, augmented by three remixes.
I’m going to park the remixes to save retreading territory that’s growing tedious and focus on the album proper, which kicks off in solid style with the pumping dark disco of ‘Veridia’ which blends surging dance pulsations with 90s enigma music and a dash of eastern mysticism to conjure a compelling hybrid or esoteric origins that lands with a dancefloor-friendly immediacy and energetic beat and throbbing bassline – and packs it all into just two pumping minutes.
There’s a lot to be said for starting an album strong and going straight in and hitting hard over the slow-build, and in today’s attention-deprived climate, it really does seem like the way to go – and Metamorph nail it here. They want your attention, and they’re bold about it.
‘Witchlit’ is up next, and it’s perfectly placed as a shimmering slice of dark electropop, sultry but lively, like Siouxsie gone electro. This is Metapmorph at their best – haunting, gothy, a little bit twisted. The title track crashes in next, bursting with flamboyant Europop vibes counterbalanced by darker shades – and once again, they pack it all into two and a half minutes.
Casting an eye down the tracklist, the majority of the songs on HEX are under three minutes in duration, and the album showcases a real economy of songwriting – no expansive mid-sections, no extravagant solos. They really do keep it tight.
‘Woo Woo’ is perhaps the album’s weakest track , not only with its mundane lyrics – ‘I won’t lie / I’m gonna get real high’ and unimaginative efforts to be sexy – but its wholesale immersion in commercial pop stylings. It feels like a stab at mainstream accessibility which is beneath them and isn’t particularly successful; in contrast, the mid-tempo brooder, ‘Raining Roses’ is brimming with dark, doomed romanticism , and ‘Broken Dolly’ borders on industrial and steps over the edge into a darker shade of darkness. ‘Wasteland Witch’ is well placed, a glammy industrial stomper that pumps up the tempo just when it’s all getting a bit dark and moody.
‘Whore Spider’, the last album track proper, could reasonably describes as an electropop anthem – mid-tempo, building, and unexpectedly hooky, while unexpectedly bringing back the wild woodwind. You can almost smell the incense as it spirals thickly to its finale.
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Arriving more than three decades after his first solo album and almost 20 years since his groundbreaking group Telex delivered their final message, Belgian electro-pop musician Michel Moers is finally making a comeback with As Is, his brand new album. To celebrate its imminent release, the synth man has invited iconic vocalist Claudia Brücken from the similarly revitalised Propaganda (now xPropaganda) to guest on its first single, ‘Microwaves’. A 50% electro-pop, 50% new wave anthem, it will delight fans of Ladytron as well as Telex classics such as ‘Moskow Discow’.
“Claudia has a great voice that you recognise from the very first note,” says Moers. “I was thrilled to get the opportunity to work with her and was determined to place her vocal upfront in this song.”
Check ‘Microwaves’ here:
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Michel Moers will release As Is in mid-April. Coming 33 years after his solo debut, Fishing Le Kiss, the long-awaited record features ten tracks that showcase Moers’ wisdom and artistic reflection as he offers a blend of thoughtful, electronic music infused with surrealism in his own unique style. It includes contributions from xPropaganda singer Claudia Brücken, who adds her distinctive Teutonic touch to ‘Microwaves’, plus Moers’ compatriot DAAN (Daan Stuyven), whose deep, expressive voice is utilised to full effect on ‘Back To Then’.
Containing songs that have been developed over several years, the album has an intimate, diary-like quality, reminiscent in part of the compositions of Erik Satie. With highlights that include the stridently uptempo ‘Potentially (Love-Hate)’ and ‘Pixels’, plus the lyrically unsettling ‘New Friend’, the album actually opens with an updated version of ‘Les Gens Sont Affligeants’ (People Are Disappointing) from Moers’ debut. It resonates more than ever in today’s individualistic society.
As Is represents a triumphant return for Moers, blending past influences with contemporary sounds and themes, and stands as a testament to his enduring creativity and adaptability in a continually evolving music landscape.
Moers has spent the last three decades working as an architect and photographer while continuing to make music. Involved in the remastering of the Telex back catalogue that was reissued to great acclaim on Mute Records in 2023, this also served to reinvigorate his skills and contributed to the creation of As Is. Belgium’s first electronic band, Telex were influential pioneers, appearing on Top Of The Pops in 1979 and representing their nation at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1980.
1st December 2023
Christopher Nosnibor
I may have mentioned before that I’m a sucker for the sound of vintage drum machines – partly by association with so many of the innovative acts which emerged in the late 70s and early 80s, which used them in a host of different contexts, exploring the near-infinite avenues these little bits of kit afforded. For a start – and perhaps most significantly – it was possible to make solid percussion without the need for a drummer or drum kit, meaning furthermore, thanks also to the advent of the portastudio, there was no need for a proper rehearsal space or studio to rehearse and record music. In fact, with relatively cheap synths, you could record as a band without even having a band. The other thing was that, if amped up right, these things could be immensely powerful. And so it was that we saw the emergence of acts as diverse as The Sisters of Mercy and Metal Urbain, Young Marble Giants, and The Human League.
Poly Ghost are a German synthpop trio, and ‘Ananas Ring’ is a quirky, fairly minimal tune that brings together the primitive sound of the aforementioned Young Marble Giants with the retro-chic of Stereolab, delivered with a humourous twist that could only come from a German act. Anyone who says the Germans lack humour is simply missing it. Absurdist wordplay might not be everyone’s bag, but from Die Toten Hosen to the deliberately clunky lyrics on St Michael Front’s first album, there’s no denying that there’s a thread of quirky amusement that’s uniquely German.
And so we arrive at Poly Ghost’s ‘Ananas Ring’, and while the twisted punning of the band’s name is one thing, the inter-language incongruity of ‘ananas’ – French for pineapple – with the English ‘ring’ (the French word for ‘ring’ is ‘bague’) from a German band takes messing around with language to another level. Despite the lyrics seemingly being in English, I have absolutely no idea what the song is actually about. But, I do have functional ears, which are totally sold on this quirky sound. The accompanying video is daft, and ‘Ananas Ring’ is a nifty tune that brings all the analogue, and the squeaky, inflected vocals just make it all the more wonderous.
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Christopher Nosnibor
It’s a common issue for artists, even those with labels, that a release simply fails to gain traction. There are myriad reasons and multiple factors, and it’s often a combination of them which contrive to leave a release sunk like a stone, dead in the water. It’s rarely a question of quality. Even A-Ha’s ‘Take On Me’ and ‘West End Girls’ by the pet Shop Boys took more than one attempt to break through, despite major label backing at a time when labels would plough absolutely hods of cash into new artists.
Sometimes it’s simply a question of timing: some weeks and months there’s a glut of major releases or releases that otherwise grab the attention that mean some great records slip through the cracks. This month is a classic example, and it seems there are at least half a dozen truly killer releases all landing on the 10th. I can’t even listen to them all, let alone write about them.
And so it seems to have been the case when Distance H dropped debut EP Intimacy a few months ago. The single cuts released in advance of this EP grabbed my attention, not least the first, ‘Bitch 16’, featuring Ophelia from Saigon Blue Rain. In fact, there wasn’t a weak selection among the three singles: ‘Waters of Woe’ by Distance H feat. Marita Volodina was – and remains, as I described it at the time – ‘vintage goth with a contemporary spin’ and ‘a cracking tune’.
But having failed to make a splash, Intimacy is getting a PR reboot, and it’s a good thing, because the tracks which didn’t get single releases a year ago or whenever, are just as strong, and this makes for a full and founded EP. Casting an eye back to the 80s and 90s when big bucks were doing the rounds, it was often the case that albums would depend on a strong single or two, and that those singles would stand as beacons in set of mediocre slop, or, as was often the case, indulgent turd. It’s rather harder to get away with that ‘lead single’ marketing approach now people can stream the album or hear to by other means in advance without needing to go and check out a listening booth or blag it off your mate.
But Intimacy is truly all killer. ‘Twilight’ is a big, sweeping slab of majestic melancholy, balancing cool synths and chiming guitars that lean on Disintegration era Cure and sits nicely alongside The Twilight Sad circa Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave. It’s a song with a sadness that aches, but at the same time, there’s an ethereal majesty about it, due in no small part to the sweeping, soaring vocals. The epically multi-faceted ‘Waters of Woe’ we’ve already raved about here, but hearing it afresh in the context of the EP, it seems to gain power. The same if true of ‘Reasons to Rush’ which features Liset Alea, combining heavy goth vibes with the electric rush of 90s alternative acts like Curve.
The final track, the epic six-minute ‘Leaden Sky’ now selected to lead the reboot, again features Ophelia on vocals. It’s another gothy epic, clocking in at over six minutes, with a bulbous bass and a wash of echo-soaked guitars weaving a richly textured backdrop cut through with programmed drums which punch out a rolling rhythm. In the context of the EP, it rounds off a big journey ending as it begins, while stepping through some memorable terrain. For these collaborative cuts, Manu H has made some truly immaculate selections. Each of the vocalists brings a subtle but essential twist to the sound, and while tied tightly to the templates of his stated influences (The Cure, Joy Division, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Cocteau Twins, The Sisters of Mercy or The Chameleons), Intimacy sees Distance H emerge victorious by capturing the atmospheric aspects of his forebears without falling to cliché, and the quality of the songs seals it.
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Negative Gain Productions – 8th September 2023
Christopher Nosnibor
It likely seems strange to anyone born in the last thirty years that electronic music as we know it simply wasn’t a thing at one point. If the Seventies saw a slow emergence of new technology in music, it wasn’t until the early 80s that that technology became accessible – that is to say, affordable and more widely available in commercial terms. This was truly revolutionary, and to hear bands like The Human League, Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, all coming through in the charts felt like, well, the dawning of a new era. Which is precisely what it was, and this would evolve in darker directions – as well as dancier, poppier ones – as the decade progressed, and through the 90s, by which time the sense of revolution had become fully assimilated. No-one bealed about the lack of instruments involved in the making of the Utah Saints’ album.
You can see why your traditionalists hated it, of course, and the Musicians Union, too, and this friction did continue into the 90s: as they saw it, drum machines threatened to make drummers obsolete, and if you had a synthesiser which could do bass and lead, both bassists and guitarists would be out of work! It was of course pure knee-jerk, and one wonders to what extent the same is true of the outcry over AI, but on that score only time will tell. As it stands, history had proven that home taping didn’t kill music – no, that would come later with the advent of streaming, and not illegal streaming via Napster and subsequent P2P platforms like Gnutella and Soulseek.
This s the backdrop for the debut album for electronic rock duo, Sonum Unum. Signals From The Sun is, according to their bio, ‘heavily inspired by 80s and 90s eras electronic and synth-pop music. Dark and ominous tones, ambient textures and thumping beats abound while lush, layered vocals soar to epic and cinematic tiers.’
It’s tempting to slide into the easy commentary which maintains the narrative of this being an album with a retro vibe, primarily because it’s true: it’s an amalgamation of two decades of electropop slickly delivered to draw in elements from specific acts, but the entire oeuvre of the timespan, from bolder darker grooves of gothier European dark electro, but also incorporating elements of the emerging case sound, with the quickfire drum builds that pace the way for expansive choruses.
There are times where it feels as if their approach to appropriation – essentially pulping and compressing the very essence of the forms into smooth perfection – results in songs that are simply too generic to have a real sense of character or identity. But then, plough through myriad releases from that time span from acts who either bubbled under or who only had a hit or two, and you’ll find the same is true of the rest of the album tracks. Moreover, to return to the question of sounding ‘retro’ – it feels like an increasingly obsolete concept. More or less everything draws on something precursive, and most of what is starting to be a recycling of a recycling. It’s no longer a case of a seventies or eighties or nineties revival: all of these things now exist in perpetuity. Retro is the new contemporary, and I can’t decide of the seeping sadness I experience listening to it is because of the emotive quality of the songs – which are tightly crafted more than gripping, to the point that they slip past without for a second taking hold – or if it’s because of the way they evoke so much that entirely removed from the songs themselves.
Signals From The Sun is Mr Mister to Depeche Mode via Eurythmics and A-Ha and Nine Inch Nails and Bastille. Slick, anthemic, it seeps nostalgia and has immense commercial appeal if it finds its way to the right channels and outlets.
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Aural Aggravation 