Darkwave
Album review: The dark delights of Boy Harsher’s new album ‘The Runner (Original Soundtrack)’ dropping tomorrow via Nude Club/City Slang
From fetish clubs to catwalks, Boy Harsher have amassed a cult-like following for their broody, atmospheric beats. Stepping up the cinematics, in addition to Friday’s album release they’ve just premiered their own short film, via streaming platform Shudder. Entirely written, produced and directed by the duo, the film is a horror-style “documentary” about their recording …
Album review: Die Wilde Jagd – ‘Atem’: a dark, occluding drone masterwork
DIE WILDE JAGD – it translates as “The Wild Hunt”, Anglophones, which will surely be the only possible connection to Swedish troubadour The Tallest Man on Earth we shall ever explore – is the sonic project of producer and songwriter Sebastian Lee Philipp. Across three albums from 2015’s self-titled debut, through 2018’s Uhrwald Orange and …
Track: Sugarstone twist the rave into a darkwave nightmare before Christmas on ‘Pink Duct Tape’
MANCUNIAN new wave ravers Sugarstone have tucked away the dayglo, hands-in-the-air synth thang just for now as they embrace the aesthetics of the darkest month; and with the winter solstice nearly here, they’ve taken a swerve into goth-pop drama with a final single for ’21, “Pink Duct Tape”. The song keeps that rave squelch and …
Premiere: Sydney’s Marveline serves up a darker dose of pop with the synth buzz of ‘Evil Worm’, and announces launch gig.
The solo work of Pete Marley (from The Nature Strip) under the name Marveline, has always delivered the most exquisite, intelligent and articulate pop, and we are honoured to be able to premiere his new track ‘Evil Worm’. It’s been a while since Marveline released ‘Fly By Instruments’ back in June (reviewed by me here) …
See: Geneva’s electronic post punkers Tout Bleu deliver ‘Rucksucre’ ahead of new album ‘Otium’.
From the ever giving Bongo Joe portal, key communicator from the Geneva underground scene and beyond, comes news of Tout Bleu’s second album ‘Otium’ due for release on 10th December. Revolving around multi- instrumentalist Simone Aubert’s urgent creativity Tout Bleu’s self- titled first LP in 2019 was a record of intense twists and turns, at …
Track: Xeno + Oaklander drop new single and video for “Infinite Sadness” – New album ‘Vi/deo’ out 22 October via Dais Records
New York dark wave duo Xeno & Oaklander have announced their impending full-length release, Vi/deo, due out on 22 October via Dais Records. The album promises to further distil the group’s iconic noir synth-pop and is inspired by ideas of synaesthesia, scent, star worship, and obsolescent technologies. Duo Liz Wendelbo and Sean McBride conceived the …
See: Mattia Cupelli – ‘EGERIA’: propulsive ambient darkwave goes down to the water
MATTIA CUPELLI, the Italian darkwave ambient composer, the cyclical, shadowy prayer call of whose “MONOLITH” we covered in these pages just over a week ago, has dropped another track, this time showcasing a more propulsive dark aesthetic. It’s called “EGERIA” and you can watch the video for it below. Built on the hard rock of …
Track: Mattia Cupelli reveals a dark ambient aesthetic with the eerie prayer call of ‘MONOLITH’
ROMAN composer Mattia Cupelli likes to play on the borders of modern classical, electronica, ambient and soundtrack elements, which has stood him in good stead over nearly a decade of composing scores for more than a dozen films. He’s now embarking on a non-filmic exploration of dark ambient, with an album, RUINS, coming out in …
Album review: TOMAGA – ‘INTIMATE IMMENSITY’: a final testament in darkwave from Tom Relleen
TOM RELLEEN was a cornerstone of London’s experimental/electronic music scene. Co-founder of Phonica Records, promoter and prolific musician, he was a hub around which creativity revolved. Forming Tomaga with percussionist Valentina Magaletti in 2013, the duo went on to release six expansive albums as well as boundary-pushing collaborative records with Pierre Bastien and Neil Tolliday. …
Premiere: Black Light Smoke – ‘North Korea’: New York darkwaver dusts down a pulsing groove for his forthcoming early years album
BASED in Rochester on the shores of Lake Ontario, darkwave synth explorer Jordan Lieb, who records as Black Light Smoke, has used the past year of enforced inactivity to look back over his shoulder at what’s come before; and he’s announced a new album compiling his earliest excursion into the synth shadows, The Early Years, …