Browsing Tag

Electronica Composer

mothshade’s Labyrinth Cover – A Mechanical Descent into the Void

Posted on 4 March 2025

The Cure has never been a band to offer light, but under mothshade’s duress, Labyrinth mutates into a dark and twisted installation of eerie etherealism. This reimagining doesn’t just flirt with unease—it drags you deep into its suffocating atmosphere, lowering the temperature in your soul as its cinematic scope unravels. The fatalistically sweet female vocal lines act as the last thread of human warmth, juxtaposed against a fevered mechanical pulse that never quite resolves, leaving you hanging in rhythmic suspension.

Sitting in the perfect limbo between ambience and intensity, mothshade stretches the progressions like taut wires, teasing your rhythmic instincts without ever offering a safe landing. The result is a cover that feels less like a tribute and more like a dystopian rebirth, stripping away any trace of comfort in favour of pure existential tension.

The industrial, electronic, and alternative rock influences converge into something that feels entirely its own—cold, unrelenting, and unnervingly immersive. If this reworking doesn’t leave you in a deep state of reflection, take it as a clear sign you need to scratch beneath the surface of your psyche.

mothshade’s Labyrinth cover is available to stream now. For the full experience, watch the official video on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

‘Dead and Dried’ by mothshade – Mechanical Existentialism Meets Ethereal Transcendence

Posted on 18 February 2025

Some artists compose; others construct entire dimensions with their sound. With Dead and Dried, mothshade explored the uncharted intersections between industrial electronica and trip-hop, leaving breadcrumbs of visceral emotion and motifs that demand rhythmic surrender. As a debut under his new moniker, the single is a bold declaration that the distinction between artist and composer lies in how emotion is translated into sonic form.

From the first pulse of distortion, tension ripples through the meditative release, carrying an unmistakable Nine Inch Nails imprint. But rather than mere homage, mothshade bends discordance to his own will, forging a conduit for the immense turmoil that fractures the fragility of life. The mechanical existentialism at the track’s core is tempered by iridescent female vocals, their spectral presence illuminating the cavernous depths of his production.

Drawing from industrial, electronic, rock, and cinematic influences—ranging from Massive Attack to Tool and Hans Zimmer—mothshade thrives in the chaos of transformation and rebirth. The upcoming debut LP, LIMINAL, set for release on February 18, couldn’t be more promising. Dead and Dried proves that mothshade is far more than a seasoned composer—he is an architect of atmosphere, twisting electronic textures into something both punishing and transcendental.

Stream the official video for Dead and Dried on YouTube.

Keep up to date with mothshade’s latest releases on Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Contrasts Collide: The Eclectic World of ‘Abyssinian’ by The Soft Parts

Posted on 20 January 2025

With abyssinian, the standout single from their sophomore album, The Soft Parts unfurled a texturally intricate sonic tableau which refuses to settle into predictability.

Opening with cinematic neo-classical grandeur, abyssinian invites listeners to stroll through the golden age of film scores, before the chill of avant-garde influences begins to weave through the organic warmth of the basslines. Playful polyphonic keys soon take centre stage, creating a delicate tension as each instrumental element works in purposeful juxtaposition to the next. When the neo-classical keys return with greater tenacity, they anchor the composition, ensuring it never spirals into abstraction despite its eclecticism.

The Soft Parts, the project of a Houston-based composer and sound artist, brings together a unique palette of influences spanning classical music, art rock, cocktail jazz, and lounge music. These influences shaped abyssinian into what could best be described as funk-inflected art pop, dipped in the moody magnetism of New Tango and Arab musical textures.

abyssinian pulls listeners into its orbit, making them feel the landscape of its creation as it swaggers, scintillates, and soothes in equal measure. If you want to stray away from sonic monotony, hit play.

Abyssinian was officially released as part of The Soft Parts’ sophomore LP, innuendo, on January 3rd; stream the single on all major platforms, including Spotify, now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Circuit Symphony: The Electrified Emotions of Bruce Cohen’s ‘Dance of the Siren’

Posted on 22 November 2024

With ‘Dance of the Siren,’ the virtuosic composer Bruce Cohen unveiled a composition that is as intricate as it is profound, drawn from his latest album, ‘8 BC.’ By blending the ornate richness of neo-classical elements with the pulsating depths of sci-fi intrigue, each note seems to decide whether to comfort or challenge the listener.

Cohen’s mastery in synthesising disparate musical traditions is evident, as ‘Dance of the Siren’ embarks on a voyage through lush, theatrical gravitas and bursts into scintillating sci-fi phases. This duality in tone and texture transforms the listening experience into an exploration of emotions, leaving one oscillating between catharsis and disturbance—a true testament to his unique position in the electronic music sphere.

Cohen’s journey in music has been a kaleidoscope of genre-defying ventures. From scoring plays like ‘Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde‘ at Philadelphia’s Walnut Theatre to forming the heavy, psychedelic jazz trio Big Fun 3, his creative bandwidth stretches far and wide.

His solo projects resonate with a penchant for German electronic minimalism and ambient soundscapes reminiscent of luminaries like Brian Eno and Klaus Schulze. With each album from ‘1 BC’ to ‘8 BC,’ Cohen has progressively dipped deeper into his own experimental ethos, melding ambient, funk, and trance elements to forge a distinct sonic signature.

Dance of the Siren was officially released on November 11th; stream the single on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alvinos Zavlis delivered sensually dark catharsis with his moody pop meets dark trip-hop mash-up, I Shouldn’t

Posted on 19 February 2024

The Cyprian Bristol-based artist and producer, Alvinos Zavlis, is in his experimental element in his fourth alt-electronica LP, After Sex All Animals Are Sad. With an album title that compels you to sonically explore the contents through eccentrically offbeat name alone, the bar is already set high. But evidently, Zavlis knows exactly how to transcend expectation and temporal boundaries with his dark syntheses of trip-hop, alt-pop, and artfully manifested electronica.

Sitting on the leftfield of Pop, one of the standout singles, I Shouldn’t, featuring Sae, is an ethereally hypnotic extension of the contemporary moody pop trends fused with 90s trip-hop that glitches and oscillates in the same vein of Massive Attack and Portishead.

The alchemic blend carries just as much cultivation and evidence of evocative rhythmic control as the latest releases from Chelsea Wolfe, but the way Zavlis locked into the collaborative chemistry between him and Sae allowed the release to resound beyond compare. The sensually dark catharsis is superlative evidence of how honed his sound has become after he took a hiatus and returned with fresh fervour.

In his own words:

“The main idea of the album is how the chase for perfection in your artistic craft can hinder personal relationships, health, and financial stability.”

For the full Alvinos Zavlis experience, stream After Sex All Animals Are Sad in full by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

PonyArt has unveiled his Avant-Garde IDM installation of sonic maleficence, Novum Stutter Sd

Posted on 14 August 2023

The artwork for PonyArt’s debut LP, Redundancy, which landed on August 3rd, is creepier than any scene in The Last of Us; when you open the sonic door to it by delving into the first single, Novum Stutter Sd, you’ll instantly note the sound designer and composer’s ability to sonically visualise the macabre into maleficent melodic soundscapes.

While I never thought I would use Otto Von Schirach and Glenn Branca references in the same review, PonyArt necessitated it with his Avant-Garde installation of IDM, which came into fruition when the composer, who day walks by the name of Joe Sheldrick, decided to orchestrate an expression of pure creative freedom and escapism from genres or expectations.

While there are visceral moments of phantasmally cacophonous etherealism, the LP, which was put out through Dachshund Records, is underpinned by melodic accessibility.

Stream the Redundancy LP on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast