Browsing Tag

darkwave

Slip into the phantasmal furore of Mary Bleeds’ post-punk track, ‘Seal’.

Posted on 4 April 2021

If you’ve always preferred the darker side of post-punk, slip into the phantasmal furore in Dublin-based alt-rock outfit Mary Bleeds’ latest single, ‘Seal’.

Living in Manchester, I’m no stranger to post-punk revivals, but Mary Bleeds succeed in stamping down their signature style and despondency with an unassimilated level of cool. With nods to John Dwyer in the guitar work, hints of the Cramps’ salacious swagger and a touch of Bauhaus, Poison Ivy and Glen Branca in the production and vocals, it’s a full-frontal exhibition that will still leave you eager to see even more.

With their debut album, produced & engineered by Julie McLarnon (Vaselines, Lankum), due for release digitally and on vinyl on May 30th, Mary Bleeds aren’t just ones to watch; they are one to add to your record collection.

The album is available to pre-order via their official website.

You can check out the live recording of Seal via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

LA indie darkwave duo Darkplay have released their latest single ‘Only You’

Posted on 28 March 2021

Ahead of their forthcoming album, LA indie darkwave duo, Darkplay unleashed their entrancingly atmospheric synthpop single, ‘Only You’ which takes the listener on a trip to the murky depths of 80s post-punk while never sacrificing the melodic gravity of the single.

With a similar revivalist nature to bands such as Spector, Darkplay succeeded in teasing nostalgia while putting a brand-new spin of a familiar sound. Each crescendo comes laden in reverb for the ultimate psychotropic effect, and to sweeten the track, the perfect balance of light affability and dark despondency was found. Just imagine what it would sound like if Joy Division and the Human League had an aural lovechild.

Only You can be heard on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

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

Posted on 1 March 2021
Exit Spells

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

Alt Electronica artist Daughter of Dawn has released her debut album ‘Crushed into Dust by the Weight of the World’.

Posted on 18 February 2021

The captivatingly melodic guitar tones in the first single ‘Juniper Boughs Collide Upon My Shores’ perfectly sets the tone for Daughter of Dawn’s debut alt-electronica album ‘Crushed into Dust by the Weight of the World’. It is an existentialist’s playlist staple.

The dark electronica release comes with a cavernously cathartic feel, you can’t help but be pulled into the trippy progressions which glitch their way through lashings of reverb and laceratingly efficacious guitar hooks. Daughter of Dawn may play with the cold and chillier colours on the tonal palate, but there’s still a soulful empyreal air to the atmospheric sound.

Daughter of Dawn is the latest project by Minnesota-based trans artist, artist and producer, Emma Goldman Grey, a semi-professional musician who has toured the world in punk, metal and hardcore bands such as Hive, Contentious and Malachi. With her solo career, she takes inspiration from the likes of Chelsea Wolfe and other artists who experiment with evocative and ethereally dark elements to construct entrancing soundscapes with the capacity to heal.

Crushed into Dust by the Weight of the world is now available to stream via Spotify.

Connect with Daughter of Dawn via Facebook & Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Aorta Project – Perfect Form: Enchantingly Psychotropic Ambient Electronica

Posted on 6 November 2020

AORTAPROJECT is the debut album from Aorta Project, the enchantingly psychotropic release takes electronically-crafted atmospheric ambience to another level in a way which will enamour fans of Deadmau5 and Jon Hopkins. Yet, discernibly, Aorta Project stamped down their transcendent signature sound with their debut – especially with their lead single, ‘’Perfect Form’, which was written and performed by Steven Sheffield & Allanah Maarten and mixed & mastered by Ashton Nagle.

Perfect Form allows you to indulge in over 7 minutes of evocatively progressive aural ingenuity which despite the polished production, still offers a direct intimacy which isn’t often heard in computer-generated music. It’s a track which will have you at the edge of your seat or rhythmically arrested on a dancefloor, wherever you are when it hits you, prepare to be overwhelmed by Aorta Project’s ability to command your rhythmic pulses. With the hauntingly sultry female vocals switching between whispers and mantra-like commands, expect the vocal notes to cut like glass.

You can check out Perfect Form for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Samuel H James – Summer: Tenderly Nihilistic Darkwave Murder Folk

Posted on 1 November 2020
https://soundcloud.com/samuelhjames/summer

Portsmouth, UK-based Multi-Instrumentalist, Composer, Artist and Producer Samuel H James has released their entrancingly chilling darkwave murder folk single “Summer”. Considering the Summer we have all just endured, the despondence and tender nihilism ensure that Summer is one of the aptest new releases that you’ll hit play on this year.

Any fans of the macabre lyrical styling of Nick Cave, Arab Strap and Jack Ladder will definitely want to give the cutting Post Punk track a listen. As the powerful beats retain tribalistic rhythmic momentum, Samuel H James seeks dramatic vengeance for the loss of a fictional lover, allowing you to get wrapped up in the atmospheric imagery which is crafted from the verses which run through as pensively cutting meta poetry.

Summer is available to stream via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Belle Scar is set to release her most transfixingly arcane Dark Art Pop single yet  

Posted on 16 October 2020

The Eeriness is the arcanely transfixing forthcoming single from Montreal-born, London-based multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and producer Belle Scar.

It’s almost a paradox how the soundscape unfolds as raw and cinematic simultaneously, but Belle Scar achieves it with her vocal timbre which is enough to make your soul quiver. The resounding vocals don’t just project power, but plenty of striking emotion which won’t fail to resonate as you listen to the artful instrumentals set up tribalistic intensity behind some of the best vocals we’ve heard this year. Belle Scar would seriously give Miley Cyrus’ larynx a run for its money.

You’ll be able to watch the surrealist official music video to The Eeriness for yourselves from November 11th. In the meantime, you can head over to Bandcamp and check out her equally as mesmerising releases.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Pete Jackson proves we’re all in this together with their entrancing Alt Darkwave hit “MASS HOUSE ARREST”

Posted on 16 October 2020
https://soundcloud.com/pete-jackson/mass-house-arrest?ref=clipboard

Delectably dark, yet euphorically rousing, MASS HOUSE ARREST by Sheffield-based artist and producer Pete Jackson is the feel-good Dance drop we never knew we needed.

Listening to high-energy tracks may be a bitter-sweet experience now, given that nightclubs are inaccessible, but you can class MASS HOUSE ARREST as a refreshing exception.

Starting out with a steady minimalistic beat, the track gently eases you into the momentum, only after ensuring you’ve had a suitable hit of catharsis. Then, the track amasses scuzzy distortion as it gains traction and the sound of Pete Jackson’s crunching guitar tones start to coalesce. Mid-way through the extended mix, the Dark Pop vocals work their way in, any fans of And One, Apoptygma Berzerk and Covenant will definitely approve.

I genuinely don’t know where my sanity would be if it wasn’t for artists such as Pete Jackson who are solidifying the culture bubble which protects the real fans of art, music and culture.

You can check out MASS HOUSE ARREST for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

MASSIVESAD – Re: Builds: A Melancholically Mesmeric Playlist Essential

Posted on 13 October 2020

It’s been a while since a new track literally gave me goosebumps. Yet, the chill crept across me before the first verse hit in MASSIVESAD’s melancholically mesmeric Alt-Indie single “Re: Builds”.

The Floridian artist and songwriter found the perfect balance of smoky, sludgy atmospherics and striking soul in Re: Builds’. The track starts as a melodic and almost Neo-Classic Electronica score before the soundscape gains momentum and starts to offer electrifyingly static aural turbulence. The evolution in the track perfectly captures the feeling of losing control after starting out with poise, grace and good intent.

You can waste your time attempting to pigeonhole each beguiling component in Re: Builds. Or you can simply let the alchemy unfold in this truly pioneering single which doesn’t ostentatiously throw aural futurism in your face. Instead, there’s a real sense that MASSIVESAD through themselves completely into the candid and evocatively transfixing release. And in the process, they created one of the aptest tracks for our dystopic and dark times. 

You can check out Re: Builds for yourselves by heading over to Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Kevin Braun has released their all too relatable single “Dark Side of the Mind”

Posted on 5 August 2020

I’m fairly sure I’m not the only one who will have been getting acquainted with the darker side of my mind in recent months, and I’m fairly sure I’m not the only one who will find Kevin Braun’s piercingly resonant single Dark Side of the Mind a playlist-worthy hit.

The Alt-Rock single experimentally incorporates elements of both Industrial and Pop. Which may not seem like an aural match made in heaven, but under Kevin Braun’s alluringly deft production, they fit hand in glove.

Thanks to the grinding rhythms, it’s as sexy as Nine Inch Nails’ more sultry tracks and as visceral and electrifying as Static X’s noisy mechanical hits. The contrast between the ferocity of the instrumentals and the harmonic magnetism of Kevin Braun’s vocals ensures you’ve never heard anything quite like this before. Even if you’ve been struggling to get excited by new music lately, Dark Side of the Mind won’t fail to hit the spot.

You can check out Kevin Braun’s latest single for yourselves via Spotify or SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast