Proud goth, ex DJ and music reviewer

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Dutch musician, Jelmer Luimstra, has released in June, the new EP, Words under his project name April Afternoon. The EP contains four tracks of diverse electronic goodness.

You have to wonder what someone is going back to when they say they are ‘going back to the bitter end.’ Yet here we are with “I’m Going Back,” a boppy poppy track, completely at odds with the lyrics. The delightful “Modern Lovers” was the recently released single, which kind of reminds me of a mix between Culture Club, Nik Kershaw and Ultravox… you know, that sprinkling of 80s magic.

Actually the beginning of “The Chorus” was giving me “Always the Sun,” (The Stranglers) vibes, however the lighter pop comes streaking through and you get a bit of a rap/spoken word into the mix from Luimstra. My favourite track off the EP has to be the shadowy and more thoughtful “Walking Through Your Day,” as it asks ‘if not now, when?‘ The track has this slick futuristic feel through the electronics and a war of light versus the dark fought via those synths.

Words is very much rooted in the 80s electronic sound that so many great bands used and inhabits many memorable tracks. As I have said, the gem is “Walking Through Your Day’ which I really love. It’s a track that makes you want to hear it again, plus the other three tracks are pretty great as well. From April Afternoon, it’s not just Words, as there is music as well!

Words | April Afternoon (bandcamp.com)

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If you are a fan of The Cure and David Bowie, then you would definitely heard of Reeves Gabrels, an iconic guitarist, who has been a member of The Cure since 2012 and was heavily involved especially in the Bowie project Tin Machine, Industrial metal aficionados, Derision Cult have created the single “Warning Signs” with fellow American Gabrels heating up the strings, released on the Glitch Mode Recordings label.

Let there be rock, and there was rock with a driving force of epic proportions. The vocals of Dave McAnally could strip the paint off a brothel, and he is joined by Sean Payne, Jesse Hunt and Brad Huston, as they crush the metal into industrial shards. Gabrels makes his lead guitar wail and seamlessly waltz through the carnage wrought by Derision Cult. The video, created by Empire Animae, is kind of like watching a whacky animated apocalyptic Mad Max version of the band, hyped up on acid, and it is amazing. You really need to view it in all its glory.

The world, it feels, has been falling into a dark chasm, pushed by war, fuelled by extremism and holier than thou righteousness. How did it come to this? Depends if you were watching for the hints or the “Warning Signs.” Derision Cult are going to attack your senses and they aren’t asking you for permission. They are screaming for you to open your eyes and see the whole picture. When there are “Warning Signs,” fuck the system.

Warning Signs (featuring Reeves Gabrels) | Derision Cult (bandcamp.com)

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Heather Shore and Kegan Heiss are the cool kids from Pittsburgh. Their cool factor lays in the fact they are duo behind the avant-garde post-punk project Hemlock For Socrates, who have a new single out, titled “You’re Not Here.”

Shore’s vocals are the focal point, lilting and mesmerising within the pulsating electronics. The guitar adds an air of experimental surrealism, as the track divulges a relationship where one never seems to get close enough to truly understand or know the other, as if they are hiding who they really are.

With “You’re Not Here,” you can almost taste the traces of sadness and frustration, while the static electronics give the impression of a glitch in the human. Hemlock For Socrates always seems to pull off the coupling of ethereal and bohemian, creating something beautifully evocative.

You’re Not Here | Hemlock for Socrates (bandcamp.com)

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We are going back to January of this year, and Dire Path are a Greek darkwave based band, who released their debut EP, Unloved. They describe themselves as a darkpop duo who are unsure on how this story ends yet, and this, gentle folk, is all I know about them

This four track EP kicks off with “Distance,” and almost instantly I am hit with the fact that the vocals are very much the focus rather than inhabiting within the music itself which is refreshing. This is a mixture of guitar and synths both having their time in focus, and somewhere I am sure I heard the voice of a female singer delicately chiming in. A winding guitar intro guides us into “From The Dream,” leading you along a path of memories past. The synths light the way, as the the pace picks up and the guitar drives us on.

The title track “Unloved,” has a very early 80s feel to it and a bleakness, as if nothing can fill a hole, as the lead singer bleeds out, and yet there are still these amazing jangling guitars tethering us. “The Path” has a beautiful play between bass and guitar. It wavers between sorrow and intense loneliness, yet there is still a glimmer of hope.

Dire Path seem to be a mix of 80s post-punk with modern darkwave, and the more you listen to the tracks, the more you realise how intricate the musicianship is. With Unloved as their first release, we will be watching with great interest how they grow and what they do next. They might admit they are ‘unsure how it ends,’ but I would say it is is a pretty wonderful beginning.

Unloved | Dire Path (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/dire.path/

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Beauty In Chaos is the gothy super group that revolves around lynch pin Michael Ciravolo, and the latest single “Holy Ground” featuring the vocal talent of Kommunity FK’s lead singer, Patrik Mata. Both this and previous single “Diving For Pearls” featuring Wayne Hussey (The Mission), can be found on the new album Dancing With Angels.

Photo by Kevin Estrada

‘A Watcher, a Supernatural Being, descends upon the planet below. He became transfixed, curious, & seduced by the women & Earthly pleasures & mysteries found. Ever since The Beginning this Being roamed the Earth creating Nephilim. What seems like an Eternity, The Being becomes a Fallen Angel, jaded, decadent, & tired having used & having been through every Earthling on the planet. The Fallen Angel shares its interpretation of how this planet used to be considered Holy Ground, but now it is not. The only thing that The Fallen Angel yearns for is to return back Home. Back to The Gate.’ – Patrik Mata on the premise behind the lyrics of “Holy Ground.”

Ciravalo’s guitar will call you into the sacred space that is the “Holy Ground,” with Mata serenading you from the perspective of a angelic being whom has fallen from grace. Both a beautiful and terrible tale with a soaring chorus that entwines the vocals of Mata and Ciravolo, that could be heaven sent and is very much Beauty In Chaos.

DANCING WITH ANGELS | BEAUTY IN CHAOS (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/beautyinchaosmusic/

http://www.beautyinchaosmusic.com/

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What happens when we have Boris Williams, best known as a part of The Cure and Jem Tayle who was one half of the now defunct Shellyan Orphan, join forces? It seems we get a Vamberator with the debut single “Sleep the Giant of Sleeps,” which is the first taste of the soon to follow full length album Age of Loneliness, out on Unifaun Productions.

For a moment, at the beginning, you are taken aback at some of the first musical notes, which could be mistaken for the baying of the Loch Ness Monster… well that might be an exaggeration, but it is kind of cool and launches into a rolling myriad of rhythms, piano, guitar and electronics. There is the amazing taste of a classical element throughout and Tayle’s vocals exude a confidence and perhaps a certain weariness, which lends itself to the theme of the song about the pursuit of hopes and dreams, but they are forever, seemingly, out of reach.

The duo are joined by Charlie Jones on bass and Joe Nye supplying backing vocals for “Sleep the Giant of Sleeps” and it is really a damn fine song. You might ask why and I will say this. Any track you can listen to multiple times, and you find new and exciting things within, is a treasure I find pure joy in, plus the more I replayed “Sleep the Giant of Sleeps,” the more I was sucked into it. Avoid disappointment and check out Vamberator.

Sleep the Giant of sleeps | Vamberator (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/Vamberator/

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There are many women from the small screen whom gothic culture adore, such as Lily Munster, Elvira and Vampira, but today it is the iconic “Morticia Addams” which coincidentally is the debut single from the London based electro-industrial band Pink Panther Project. Record label, The Circle Music, will be releasing the double album Intoxicating Embrace from members Uela, Alex K and Ether Mu in September.

True to form, the electronics are there, up front, promising a cracking darkwave dance piece. Uela’s vocals are breathy, perfectly complimenting the subtle electronics and all lyrics are sung in German, leaving you somewhat intrigued.

The Circle Music have put together a rather charming music video consisting of cuts from The Addams Family (1964/65) television show, which fits the track well. “Morticia Addams” is definitely worthy of not only being played on dancefloors, but also in personal playlists when you want a bit of pep in your darker music listening. I think we will be watching this space when it comes to the Pink Panther Project as I think they could be doing some amazing things.

Morticia Addams | Pink Panther Project (bandcamp.com)

Home – The Circle Music

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Mon ami, lend me your ears for I will enlighten them with the music of The Antoine Poncelet Band, in the form of the May single “Drowning Men.” The band is made up of members Antoine Poncelet (vocals), Peter Quilla (guitar), Mark McClemens (bass, backing vocals), Justin Wright (drums) and Greg Bullock (keyboards), with Ingrid Larsen (backing vocals).

Tendrils of keyboard delicately introduce you to the beginning of “Drowning Men” before we launch into the twanging guitar, leading into Poncelet’s beseeching vocals. The drowning man, if you try and save them, could possibly pull you under and it is also a metaphor for modern life, that can grab you and take you under the unsurmountable waves. ‘What would you do?’ demands Poncelet as the dark bluesy “Drowning Men” grooves on. So what would you do? Save the man or listen to The Antoine Poncelet Band?

Drowning Men | The Antoine Poncelet Band (bandcamp.com)

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The end of June saw the new single from the UK’s Paris Alexander and Eirene called “Blood Line” released. The duo often collaborate creating dark synth music and the best place to find their music is on Bandcamp.

There is no disappointment with “Blood Lines,” from the pulsating synths that revolve building up the tension, spilling into Eirene’s exquisite vocals. There is even delicate vocal play between Eirene and Alexander and if you listen carefully a guitar also subtly creeps into your subconscious.

You could say there is tension in this track and maybe it is from the knowledge that even though we live, we are also in the process of dying. Eirene and Alexander are very good at creating sensuous music that can hypnotise the listener into moving involuntarily to the rhythm. “Blood Lines” is yet another example of this prowess.

Blood Line | Paris Alexander and Eirene | Paris Alexander (bandcamp.com)

https://linktr.ee/ParisAlexander

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For us kids, of a certain age, 1984 was a time of huge musical hits, and the Summer filled with the sound of Laura Branigan’s “Self Control.” Toronto’s Jay Draper & the Subterraneans have revived the single, that was incidentally originally released in ’84 by Italy’s Raf, and now has been included in the soundtrack for the new horror movie MaxXxine. I guess this guarantees something a bit dark……

The original (Branigan) version was kind of a rock anthem with these big punctuations, followed by aahhhs, and this is something you should not expect from Draper. Draper has drawn on the electronic side of the force, while his singing is delicate and spidery, ramping up the creep factor during the verses. Do not mistake the delicate for weak as there is steel beneath, cold as the looped winds that sweep through “Self Control,” and it feels like there is a grieving lament in the powerful chorus. There is also a bonus b-side “Ascending to the Moonlight City” and this perfectly fits the mood as an instrumental piece, darkly lit by synths, casting their gloom on grim streets.

Hearing this track with Draper’s vocals is a bit of a spin-out being so used to Branigan’s, as I am not sure if I have ever heard a male cover, so that is pretty cool. He has created an attention grabbing atmosphere , which one might even say wavers between euphoric and claustrophobic, and this seems to be enough to cause shivers down the spine in complete delight. Yeah I can still hear the aahhs, but this is such a great choice for a horror movie and I have to say that I listened to this one too many times….addiction is a terrible thing *happy le sigh*.

Self Control (Single) | Jay Draper & The Subterraneans (bandcamp.com)

Jay Draper & the Subterraneans (@jay_draper_subterraneans) • Instagram photos and videos