Synth-Pop
Track: Ablebody – Backseat Heart
Like we weren’t going to cover something that utilised (albeit completely independently, naturally) Backseat, right? Ablebody are LA based identical twind Christoph and Anton Hochheim, members of Pains Of Being Pure At Heart / Depreciation Guild, and they’ve been releasing records under this moniker since 2013. They’ve now stepping things up, moving from bedroom to …
Live Review: An evening with Marc Almond – Leeds 8.7.16
It’s thirty five years since Tainted Love hit the number one spot across the globe, and in doing so launched the illustrious career of tonight’s star, Marc Almond. Tonight is a celebration of that career and we’ve been promised a personal set of his own favourites. The concert opens with the Leeds College of Music Contemporary …
Album Review: Bright Light Bright Light – Choreography
Could ‘Choreography’ be the perfect title for Welsh electronic singer/songwriter Rod Thomas AKA Bright Light Bright Light’s third album? Why? Well first of all it goes perfectly with the gloriously eighties inspired styling of the album; from the fashions, to the artwork, to the big synth sounds that have already dominated all his albums to …
Album Review: Highasakite – Camp Echo
The inexorable march of Norwegian five piece Highasakite continues with the release of their second (at least internationally, pendants will no doubt note its their third) album, Camp Echo. Those that fell in love with their frankly astonishing last long player Silent Treatment, which some two years later is still skirting around the charts in …
Album Review: Ladyhawke – Wild Things
Ladyhawke is back and celebrating life with an album as sugar-coated and colourful as a pack of party ring biscuits. Ladyhawke, aka New Zealand songstress Pip Brown, has gone all synthesised on us with third album ‘Wild Things’ (out now via Mid Century Records). Her self-titled debut album was a delicious slice of indie pop …
Track: SPC ECO – Out of my system
ON this fathers day (here in the UK at least) it seems almost fitting to write about father-daughter group SPC ECO (pronounced Space Echo), the elder being Dean Garcia formerly 50% of Curve, joined by singer (and junior) Rose Berlin. Their album Dark Matter, which dropped less than a year ago, was widely revered and …
Track: Boxed In – Jist
‘Jist’ is the new single from London four piece Boxed In, following on less than a year after their much lauded self-titled debut album. Its also the first glimpse of the bands second album Melt, while the track – according to frontman, songwriter and producer Oli Bayston is about “Getting lost in repetitive thought patterns …
New Music: Broods – Heartlines
Taken from their forthcoming new album Conscious, out on June 24th via Island Records, brother and sister duo Broods have released a new song – Heartlinesl, co-written by fellow New Zelander Lorde. The album has been produced by Joel Little (Lorde, Sam Smith, Ellie Goulding), who produced the pairs 2014 debut Evergreen. Heartlines is this …
Track: Twin Graves – Strife
Despite having a name that screams ‘death metal’ at you (well, it did at me anyway) Twin Graves, aka Irish/Blackpool duo Jeremy Aris Polychronopoulos (vocals/guitar) Zarah Lawless (vocals/bass/synth) actually make the most engaging and catchy synth pop this side of Kim Wilde and ABC. Seriously. If you don’t immediately fall for new single Strife then …
See: Red Sleeping Beauty release video for If you Want Affection
Ahead of their first album for 20 years – Kristina, due out on Labrador on June 17th, and their first ever UK show at Indietracks Festival in Derbyshire (29-31 July), Swedish C86/Indie-pop veterans Red Sleeping Beauty complete another first – their first video ever, for the single If you want Affection. The quartet first got …