With Labour Day in the rearview we’re two-thirds of the way through the year with an emerging sense of some of our favourite records of the year thus far, but September’s looking to keep the recent hot run going with records from The Chameleons, Louisahhh, Ash Code, Rhys Fulber, Diesein, and loads more to be released in the next few weeks. Wish us luck keeping you up to speed with those, as well as this week’s tracks from six other acts.
Olvido
Zanias, “Serpentsmile”
We’ve been pretty intrigued by all the tracks we’ve heard leading into the release of Zanias’ next LP, Cataclysm, and specifically the way the Fleisch label boss and modern darkwave pioneer has been changing up her style on these tracks. Take for example “Serpentsmile”, a track that silmultaneously takes its cues from the dancefloor focus of side-project Serpentsmile, while invoking some of the more abstract elements of last year’s Ecdysis and then finally layering in a solid amount of the ethereal atmosphere that has become Zanias’ trademark. An absolute stormer, and yet another reason to be excited for the full record in October.
Seeming, “Tomorrow Place”
Alex Reed’s Seeming has basically always been a project with an eye towards the end, a reckoning with a world without us and how we can maintain meaning and hope in the face of that eventual, inevitable armageddon. The trick of course is in doing that without making every album an absolute downer, a feat that Reed has accomplished handily and made some of our favourite music of the last decade in the process. It’s with that thought in mind that we approach the jaw-droppingly lovely, simple “Tomorrow Place”, an electro-pop song that speaks to what the titular location has in store for us, and the comfort that might be found there. “You won’t have to be brave/And you won’t have to be human” is a deeply compelling sentiment, and one that offers succor in an era of constant psychic and emotional pressure.
The Devil & The Universe, “Occult Pleasures”
Austria’s The Devil & The Universe remain a mercurial force more than a decade into their career. Moody, ritualistic mid-tempo darkwave club numbers are never far from hand, but they’re also capable of sending their controlled read on occult themes into any number of musical directions at a moments notice. See this cut featuring Alex Svenson of Swedish goth rockers Then Comes Silence, which seems to draw on classic psych and prog rock sounds as much as anything. Occult Pleasures sees release in a couple of weeks, when we’ll find out what other left-hand, left-field moves the group have in store.
Blood Handsome, “Dreaming In Silver”
The first couple of tunes from one-man LA act Blood Handsome’s forthcoming LP on Strict Tempo pick up more or less where 2022’s A New Calm left off, with some minimal and immediate darkwave indebted to post-punk and a generalized indie dancefloor milieu going back a couple of decades, but there are some subtle differences. There’s a sense of restraint and control which adds to the uncanny nostalgia without sacrificing immediacy. The dreamy, pastel-like haze of this number should appeal to those who’ve enjoyed recent Curses material.
Lost Signal, “Entropy”
The return of Charles Rehill’s Lost Signal after many years of inactivity has been interesting to monitor in real time; while the project first emerged in the futurepop era, and was broadly a part of that movement, the new material has maintained the melancholy that defined their earlier catalogue while exploring more downtempo and moody sounds. Such is the case with new single “Entropy”, a meditation on endings and the little glimmers of hope that keep us going. New album Light of Other Days is due in November, and is one we have bookmarked for a look when it drops.
Olvido, “Miradas”
Lastly, some rock solid yet utterly ghostly deathrock from Colombia. While compositionally this track from Olvido’s first LP is as dead simple as the classic SoCal formula can get, they’re mixing in just enough effects to conjure a shimmering, otherworldly atmosphere, and then there are those absolutely shrieking banshee vocals which pack all manner of spine-tingling chills into a brief but very powerful package.
