Synthpop
TRACK: Hear Vaughan’s ‘BitCrushed’: downtempo electropop concerning the pains of love
THOMAS HARVEY is a young English singer-songwriter bringing alt.pop grace and intelligence to his songwriting as a voice for the young UK queer community. He’s not afraid of a downtempo melodic pop number shot through with piercing lyrical precision, as demonstrated by his latest single, the empowered but regretful lament of “BitCrushed”. Take a listen …
SEE: The Green Child’s ‘Fashion Light’: woozy and intelligent psych-synth melodies
RAVEN MAHON and Mikey Young began making beautiful music together after a chance encounter at a gig in her home state of California; at the time they were both in other bands, Raven in Grass Widow, who had an LP out on the koool Kill Rock Stars; Mikey as a member of Australian post-punk synthers …
TRACK: HMS Morris – ‘Myfyrwyr Rhyngwladol’: intelligent artpop asks we all look outwards
HMS MORRIS are a rather fine art-rock collective operating out of the Welsh capital; the project of former Emmy the Great bassist Heledd Watkins, they’ve since developed a whole ethos, aesthetic, sweetly harmonious life of their own. Following the release of two pre-covid era singles, “Babanod” and “Poetry”, they’ve dusted off the rime of lockdown and …
SORBET – Life Variations EP
SORBET is the new project from drummer and producer Chris W Ryan; his debut EP under the SORBET name, Life Variations, is a navigation through the key stages of life over three tracks in a suite of more than 20 minutes. Ryan states that the three tracks are borne from the same musical seed: “Every …
TRACK: Summer Heart’s ‘Good Together’: pristine dreampop announces new label home
SUMMER HEART, the dreampop recording alias of Swede David Alexander, has announced his signing for Icons Creating Evil Art with the release of a sweet and soaring new synthpop tune, “Good Together”. Take a listen below on our SoundCloud embed. Over the past near-decade that Summer Heart have been active as a proposition, David’s remained …
SEE: the lyric video for Stats’ ‘Naturalise Me’; album news
STATS is the nom-de-musique of London-based, Welsh-raised Ed Seed, who’s paid his musical dues touring the world with Dua Lipa. Elsewhere, once safely installed inside his Stats persona, he’s released a lovely LP of verry funky synthpop in early 2019, Other People’s Lives, which picked up plaudits from none-huger names such as Elton John. That …
NEWS: Hot Chip announce ‘LateNightTales’ mix, release Velvets cover
HOT CHIP. I can’t think of any other British band since New Order who have so straddled the indie-dance divide so successfully; and with such love from us listeners. They have a way with a sweet melody that gets ya, even if synthiness isn’t really your thing. And they’ve announced they are curating the latest instalment …
ALBUM REVIEW: Private World – ‘Aleph’: a fine 80s’-informed debut
THE much-heralded Cardiff outfit Private World have just released their debut album, Aleph, on Dais Records. They embrace the 1980s’ soundscape of new romantic folklore such as Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran and early Talk Talk. As lead single “Blue Spirit” suggested, this is a band which is keen to share a specific sound that will …
Track: Palace Winter – ‘Won’t Be Long’: intelligent synthpop duo trail their third LP; tour dates
PALACE WINTER, the Australian-Danish duo comprised of lead singer and guitarist Carl Coleman and classically trained pianist and producer Caspar Hesselager, are leading up to their upcoming third long player of intelligent pop with the single “Won’t Be Long”, which you can hear below. “I’m staring into the mirror, hoping she might appear, feels like …
The Green Child – ‘Low Desk: High Shelf’: seductive synth-psych trails the new LP – maybe avoid the picnic
THE GREEN CHILD is the musical avatar of Mikey Young and Raven Mahon, who met, hung out and started to spark when their previous respective bands – Mikey’s Australian synth outfit Total Control, and Raven’s Grass Widow, played a show together in Oakland, California; Raven’s home state. Formerly collaborating long-distance, they released their self-titled debut …