Browsing Tag

dark pop

Dark-pop icon, Lyra V, created the stormiest earworm of the year with ‘2 Late’.

If Avril Lavigne ever gave up her crown, the up and coming singer-songwriter Lyra V discernibly has what it takes to take her place as the pop-rock supreme. In her latest single, 2 Late, she uses her classical vocal training as much as her command over the ethereal atmosphere of her vocal timbre.

Melancholy pierces through the melodic verses and the stormy choruses to create a track that leaves no corner of the emotional spectrum unvisited. Hell hath no eloquent fury like a woman committed to projecting every ounce of visceral frustration into a soundscape. It’s the darkest earworm that you will hear this year. More impressively, the authenticity of her sonic signature is almost matchless.

2 Late is now available to stream and purchase on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

You Were Waiting For Me: The Killing Tapes left with absolutely nothing on ‘Never Going Home’

With an energetically vibrant performance that has your heart beating so much faster than a few seconds before, The Killing Tapes remind us that travelling is a beautiful experience but certainly doesn’t shake off the past with ‘Never Going Home‘.

The Killing Tapes is an indie dark-pop duo that radiates brightly and brings us back to a time when things were so much more peaceful, as they forge a palate-pleasing sound that is quite mesmerizing at times.

As our minds race and we think back to that liberating feeling while away from our own home, The Killing Tapes show us into their world – with a quite astonishing performance here – that will have you recalling when you ran away from a predicament you thought would go away while you were gone.

Never Going Home‘ from The Killing Tapes, is an ear-warming experience from a highly experienced duo who pour through with tremendous quality and give the world something to truly treasure here. This is the story all about leaving as you get away from your issues but come back with real gold – as you wonder if it will be the same when you return – or if it’s best to keep on your mission. Sung with weighted energy, this is a glorious track filled with class.

Hear this ravishing single on Spotify and see more on the IG music page.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Spotlight Feature: Wally Hoak opens up in his dark pop hit, HARD FEELINGS

Dominican Republic-born, Brooklyn-based dark pop prodigy, Wally Hoak, has been garnering plenty of hype since making his debut in 2020. His most popular track to date, Complicated, has racked up over 33k streams since the release, and based on his latest single, HARD FEELINGS, it is unlikely that his career will stop gaining traction any time soon.

In HARD FEELINGS, raw emotion is projected into dark, thorny synth lines as reverb swirls around the 808s under Hoak’s emotionally sultry vocal timbre. Lyrically, it became the ultimate ‘don’t talk to me, I’m angry track’ as it alludes to the alienating emotions that sting at the surface in the wake of toxic relationship dynamics.

Hoak went so far beyond scratching around at surface level with HARD FEELINGS; he cut right to the marrow. Naturally, we can’t wait to hear the next confessional masterpiece.

HARD FEELINGS is now available to stream on Spotify.

Connect with Wally Hoak on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dance-pop goes dark in FHUR’s single, We Just Wanna Have Fun.

London-based artist FHUR’s dark electro-pop hit, We Just Wanna Have Fun, is melancholic enough to serve as the antithesis to the fairly cringe-inducing Girls Just Want to Have Fun. Anyone whose mentality manual setting isn’t banal joy will appreciate the way that the darkwave synth-pop hit makes satisfaction seem like a celestial force in our apathy-imparting world.

Since her debut, FHUR has become an unignorable name in London’s alt-electronica scene, and it is unlikely that her notoriety will end there. Her sultry vocals have haunted venues such as Hoxton Underbelly and Amersham Arms. For any fans of this single, there’s plenty more in the pipeline as FHUR’s debut EP is due for release in early 2022.

We Just Wanna Have Fun is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

LA alt-electronica artist and producer Romy has unleashed her pitch-black industrial pop track, Penance.

Romy

Romy’s latest single, Penance, is enough to make Peaches sound tame. Against the industrial Nine Inch Nails-inspired beats, her sultry, fierce vocals spill enough magnetism to rival Shirley Manson while she roars through the lyrics that lament the dankness of society while making the unignorable request for the world to be gentle amidst the chaos.

The Australian LA-based artist and producer has exactly what it takes to dominate the mainstream and the grimy underground of alt-electronica. Any fans of Skinny Puppy, Grendel and Faderhead will be won over by the caustic beats. When it comes to the hooky pop elements, no one will be immune to their draw.

Check out Romy on SoundCloud, Instagram and her official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Natalie Lane has released the bitter-sweet dark-pop ballad of the year with ‘Lonely’.

Californian singer-songwriter, Natalie Lane, has released her most captivating single to date with ‘Lonely’. The experimentally stormy production of the atmospheric downtempo ballad amplifies the intensity of the confessionally raw single to a visceral degree.

With a sonic style that sits in between Angel Olsen, St. Vincent and Billie Eilish combined with hints of bluesy Americana, Natalie Lane’s alchemic single hits like no other. It’s heart-wrenching tracks like this that take the stigma away from the admission of loneliness. Given that loneliness is a fundamental part of our human existence, we’re sure the weight in this track will resonate with anyone that takes a chance on it.

The official video for Lonely premiered on October 2nd; you can check it out for yourselves via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sciarra has released her hauntingly profound cinematic single, Dancing in the Dark.

Dancing in the Dark is the latest cinematic pop single from Sciarra, an artist quickly becoming renowned for her velvet soft vocals, ethereal melodies and dramatic art-pop edge.

Her love for a cinematic sonic palette transpired from her time writing TV and Film music. Her experience truly shines through in Dancing in the Dark, which pulls you in by the sheer artistry and her ability to pull on your heartstrings until they’re as raw as the sentiments explored in her deeply conceptual tracks.

Dancing in the Dark was written post-lockdown, shortly after she lost her mum to cancer and she was diagnosed with skin cancer. After overcoming it, she was left to contend with her grief; music became an avenue of reprieve and Dancing in the Dark was born. The airwaves are infinitely richer for it. We can only hope that there are plenty more emotionally iron-wrought singles in the pipeline.

All proceeds from the single will be donated to the American Cancer Society.

Dancing in the Dark is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Holly George – Alaska: A chill worth acclimatising to.

The seasons have finally turned, which means we can move away from the euphoria of summer and into eloquent conversations with tragedy, such as the one found in up and coming pop artist Holly George’s latest cinematically raw release, Alaska.

Any fans of Neighbourhood’s iconic track, Sweater Weather, or any soundscape from Warpaint or Tom Odell will definitely want to acclimatise to the climate in this chillingly ardent single. The comforting dark and cold tones are the perfect contrast to Holly George’s endlessly imploring vocals which have a poignant way of stripping hubris away when the lyrics grip you.

The official music video for Holly George’s seminal single premiered on September 8th. You can stream it for yourselves via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Kevan put a dark cinematic twist on Latin pop with his debut EP, Doors.

‘Doors’ is the debut EP from Italian producer and artist Kevan, who has been making more than waves with his evocative alternative tracks. There’s been a tectonic shift of talent on the airwaves since he started contributing to the airwaves 13 years ago.

The title single is a cinematically dark take on contemporary pop which finds room for rock and ambient trap and RnB elements to add to the dynamism. The lyrics feed the brand of frustration that only comes to fruition when you’re contending with an ending, and you’re transfixed by the past, unwilling to look to the future for fear of not seeing something you convinced yourself that you needed.

The way he shares a common experience is something. The way he expresses what words alone can’t has ironically left us speechless. We’re fairly sure that is how he ended up racking up nearly 1 million streams on Spotify alone with his standout single, Call Me.

Doors is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

West Ingston brings the Jekyll and Hyde vibes in his alt-pop hit, Bone Apple Tea.

Houston-born, Chicago-based alt-pop artist West Ingston’s standout 2021 single, Bone Apple Tea, is just as ingenious as the inventive title implies. His melodic hooks are just as clever as the conceptuality of his music.

With spoken word increments that are rough enough to make Iggy Pop’s vocals sound polished around the artist’s RnB pop vocals, Bone Apple Tea tells a story of duality that you can’t help but be hooked in by. The Jekyll and Hyde vibe adds an incredible dynamic to the tender jazzy indie-pop track that serves as an incredible testament to West Ingston’s boundary-breaking avant-garde expressionism.

You can drink in Bone Apple Tea by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast