Browsing Tag

Empathy Test

Lauren Nikohl brings the ‘Energy’ with her latest synth-pop hit

Posted on 24 September 2021

Indie pop singer-songwriter Lauren Nikohl has released her most commanding synth-pop single to date with ‘Energy‘, which carries the soul of disco and the cold cutting atmosphere of darkwave electronica. It’s an alchemic fusion of creatively contrasting tones, textures and emotions that brings exactly what it says on the tin.

The LA & Minneapolis-based artist has made waves with her introspectively deep lyrics and robust vocal timbre that will be a hit with any progressive pop fan. With a debut album in the works, there has never been a better time to find a spot on your radar for Lauren Nikohl, who has exactly what it takes to reach the same heights as Empathy Test, Mesh, and VNV Nation.

Energy officially released on September 24th; you can check it out for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

RawFall – A Thousand Thoughts: A Stark Aural Portrait of a Disquiet Mind

Posted on 24 December 2020

RawFall’s latest single, A Thousand Thoughts, doesn’t just lyrically play with the concept of disquietude, within the intricate layers of the Darkwave Electronica single, agitation and restlessness reside in the soundscape as a perfect aural depiction of a tumultuously anxiety-ailed mind. That should be anxiety-invoking in itself, but with the consoling yet sonorous vocals, any such emotion will be efficaciously quelled.

With the duo’s influences including everything from Psych to Blues to Alt Electro, there’s a dynamic non-assimilative feel which fleetingly carries reminiscences to Empathy Test and Blue October, but you’ve never heard anything quite like A Thousand Thoughts before. I was beginning to wonder if any Dark Electronica artist had the ability to produce without sounding like a Trent Reznor carbon copy, but RawFall, with their conceptual fraught masterpiece of a single well and truly proved me otherwise.

You can check out A Thousand Thoughts for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast