Exit Spells bring us a perfect slice of sparse Eighties electropop with ‘Bishops’

Exit Spells – the brainchild of introspective composers Chris Kennedy and David Cantallo – is a wash of vintage synthesisers and sequencing, drum machines and samples, a batch of TR808 and Moog sounds creating ambient textures and soundscapes behind delicate melodies and breathy, semi-spoken vocals.

It’s old-school in all the right ways, a step back from the ‘four sweaty men standing in a rehearsal room’ band approach, melancholic yet hopeful, introspective yet immediate. There’s a big eighties vibe here, swathes of Ultravox, Visage, or Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, the vocals reminiscent of Ure, Foxx, or Oakey, the track sparse and electronic but optimistic and ultimately uplifting.

Exit Spells’ four track EP – from which ‘Bishops’ is taken – is out now; you can also check out Exit Spells on Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes