September was a big month for some really good electronic music and Sweden’s Hatif, most certainly delivers some quality releases, which leads us to the new single “Heredity.” Under license to the label Town&TowersRecords, the duo of MarkusMajdalani and JohanEckerström, seems to not currently have an album attached to this new track.
Photo by Daniel Kwon
The electronic clicks take up a flamenco style rhythm and Majdalani‘s singing is smooth and entrancing, then it kicks up an extra notch of cool with the harmonising. The synths move from light to dramatic keeping you on the edge of your seat, while the programming spasmodically still clicks and whirrs.
I’m going to be a bit cheeky and say Hatif could be channelling the spirit of another classic Swedish band Covenant, and that is not a bad thing with the harmonies and building electronic textures. Hatif have said their music is easy to listen to, and I have to say I completely agree with them. “Heredity” is part of the growing legacy that Hatif are putting down.
Today sees the release of the single “DigitalImogen” from UK duo Karamelien, and we are delighted to have the premiere. Singer/songwriter Léanie Kaleido and guitarist MarkFoster are the nucleus of Karamelien and are joined on bass by LeePomeroy, who has played with luminaries such as ELO, TakeThat, RickWakeman and Yes. The single is off the album, Living With The Moon, which is set to be released on the 27th of October.
Léanie has said she was going for a Garbage vibe, drawing inspiration from front woman, Shirley Manson, and indeed she had done well, channelling the strong vocals, with the essence of telling a few home truths. An indie pop tune with melodic fuzz guitar noise and keyboard, that wants to open a conversation on social media and the effect it has on people’s perception of themselves. Using filters and photoshopping in order to gain an unrealistic perfection, which creates a viscous cycle of self-loathing and image control. Karamelien has delivered a track of unadulterated indie pop goodness, with modem relevance.
From the late 70s, into the early 80s, KISS were at the height of their musical success, and well known for, at the time, the outrageous makeup and stage outfits. October is Halloween month, and Michigan based ColeyKennedy (voice, keyboards, electronic drums, songwriter), has released the single “Just Like Kiss (Halloween’83),” which is about dressing up as your favourite original KISS character, to go trick or treating. He is joined by PeteJavier (guitars, bass guitar), HattieBlueKennedy, (vocals) and JudeKennedy (vocals).
The bass guitar is like the death nell of a church bell, while the rhythm plods along at an equally purposed pace. ColeyKennedy’s vocals utterly compliment the eerie atmosphere, like a dark memory of a nightmare that you might have had trouble waking up from. ‘Take your candy and run‘ because we can be “Just Like Kiss(Halloween ’83),”scaring old ladies with ColeyKennedy’s grave post-punk affair. Which KISS member will you be?
In 2021, the Seattle project, NewVersionOfBlue released the EP, Waves, however, in September of 2023, the title track has been given another lease of life, using anime to create an entertaining new video to accompany it.
There is a laid back vibe for “Waves,” with the vocals relaxed and soulful. The waves roll in and out, and this is the same in life with people and events entering our lives and then leaving us, often a little more changed. The song has a groove about it that reminds me a lot of the experimentation of Gorillaz. This is a NewVersionOfBlue floating in the tide of “Waves.”
We are going back in time…well….back to the beginning of 2023, when the single “KillMe” was released on Bandcamp, by Oklahoma artist, SaturnDethroned. I actually know nothing about SaturnDethroned, but I am guessing this is his debut track.
The rhythms from the beginning inform you that this is industrial, with the machine working, to be joined by a growing surge of fuzzing electronics, almost serpentine in its winding sound. “KillMe” grows from slow simple clunks, into a instrumental track that builds like mental breakdown, throbbing and overwhelming. If experimental industrial is your thing, then you are going to get a kick out of the SaturnDethroned track “KillMe,” and the best thing is you can download it off Bandcamp for name your price!
The latest single from RobotsInLove is here, with a video included, for the track “GossipInYourHead.” Ex-pat Aussie, ElenorRaynor, who is based in Ōtepoti (Dunedin), is the driving force behind the project, and the other current members are Alex Burchell on drums, guitarist Pierre Higbee and bassist Tony Lumsden.
“This year, friends The Sound Key played me some of their music and I was particularly enthralled by a song called ‘Gossip in Your Head’, and so it was recorded in the Robots In Love studio with Pierre Higbee on guitars and Alex Burchell on drums. Alex then produced a remix which was even more atmospheric than the original recording, emphasising the haunting vocal harmonies. The depth of emotion in the remix captivated everyone who heard it, and so it became the A-side of the single release: a masterpiece of beautiful dark pop.” – ElenorRayner
The gossamer tendrils of this song are hauntingly beautiful and are only enhanced by Rayner’s delicately phenomenal vocals. The words are weighted by melancholy, as the speaker seems to have an internal discussion, torn by the voices that feed self doubt, plucking at mental health. I love there is such a simplicity to the music that showcases the play between the vocals and guitars. Robots In Love have most definitely brought out the darkness in “Gossip In Your Head,” and it is a jewel of a track.
Label, 4000Records, on September the 1st, saw the debut release of post-punk, Brisbane band, StartTogether, which also, is sadly, their farewell album, called FounderInOddity. The line up for the recording of the album is GerardLawrence (guitar, vocals), EmmaWalton (bass, backing vocals), DemetryMalahoff (guitar, synths) and JamesBoothroyd (drums).
Photo by Madeline Randall
“ImposteringTheNascent” or pretending to come into existence, is the jangle shoegaze filled starting instrumental that introduces you StartTogether, wandering from brusque to enchantingly dreamy. One cannot help if the heart cares, and so there is the sweet “SquireJeffersonCareInstructions“, as the music cries out, while we are introduced to the dulcet vocals of Lawrence. You might think the track “Lookfar” is a quiet affair, but you are plunged into peeling walls of guitars for the chorus and vocals that are filled with longing, and the poetic lines ‘Assemble me Tireless moil And mark An incendiary soul‘ are simply golden.
There is a joy in the music of “SeparateBeds,” yet the lyrics bely this with a certain amount of cynicism, while I hear echoes of TheStrokes mixed with TheChurch. Another instrumental in the form of “Skeptics,” in truly entrancing as the music dances around your ears, propelled by the rhythms conjured by the drums and delightful light guitar that graces your senses, and drops into a murky morass of sound, changing up the feel. Last track is also the title track, and befitting this role, “FounderInOddity” encompasses the essence of StartTogether’s poppy hooks with the robust guitars.
Not the first time 4000Records has brought us a release that marks first and last album of a project, and yet we should be eternally grateful, because they have captured the crux of StartTogether, as well as fellow defunct Meanjin band, BalloonsKillBabies, giving us heavenly slices of glorious brilliance. StartTogether has given you post-punk, drenched in shoegaze goodness and FounderInOddity deserves your utmost attention.
AshesFallen are a band that have been releasing music, in the goth rock/post-punk style since 2019, and September brings us the offering of a new album, WalkThroughFire, recorded at The Chapel 1898. Members are JamesPerry (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard, drums), MichellePerry (keyboard, vocals, percussion) and JasonShaw (guitar). If the name JamesPerry seems familiar, then you would be correct as he is also a member of industrial rock group DeathlineInternational.
Photo by Kevin Vonesper
Your pointy buckle boots are going to be knocked off just from the opening track. “DamnMe” is steeped in guitar fuelled angst, while the chorus of “TheLastMistake” is punchy with a punk vibe, though shrouded in gothic peeling synths. Southern gothic is alive and kicking with “Reborn In The Cleansing Fire,” as you are immersed in the Fields OF The Nephilim like drawling guitar and ride across the high plains of self destruction.
“Remember Who You Are” is a really glorious track in my humble opinion, between chiming synths, clean guitar, and the soaring vocals in the chorus, just make this so dynamic and anthemic. The idea that everything is far too busy busy oozes from the “NewNormal” as the majority in the lower socio-economic strata struggle with less money and higher expenses.
Social media has made a mockery of what is normal in many ways, and this is reflected in “AnxietySociety” and the recognition 6 representations. A festering wound will become a “Scar” and though there is a lament within this track, there is still a whisper of hope and there is a hint of KillingJoke’s “LoveLikeBlood” in the guitar work.
Even in the face of doom, real love is often all we have to hold onto and “At The End Of All Things” is an ode to this love without condition in the face of insurmountable odds, bleak and yet heart touching. The last track is another brilliant number in the vampiric vein, “The Blood Is The Life,” as the delicious synths and evocative vocals drench you in dark delights of the creatures of the night.
This is an album with a lot of commentary on modern living and is politically charged, which for me is great to hear because music can often express ideas and emotions far better than other conduits. The rage in “Remember Who You Are” is palpable, as the band observes the erosion of basic human rights….even autonomy over our own bodies. AshesFallen are definitely nailing the post-punk ideal of music that matters, and with each release, they just keep getting better, so please check out Walk Through Fire.
Just when you thought you might finally be safe from space invasion and laser beam, pew pew extermination, you find more DEATHCOMET in your life, and he’s back with album DEATHCOMET16!! Hmmmm…. the last one we reviewed was DEATHCOMET14. Sooo, it seems we skipped an album, however, that just means more for your experimental electronic listening pleasure, from the New South Wales region of Australia.
I find my teeth are set on edge listening to the disturbing drone of “newhuntforalienlife” which stops and becomes the guitar torturing oddity, “desperateattempt,” as it tumbles over itself, creating a tubular vortex of sound. A looping guitar screaming greets your ears, perpetuating an overload for the ten minute long “neptunebelial,” as you wait for the subtle changes in pitch, but this does nothing to prepare you for the track “satanicdimensions,” where you are almost assuredly hearing the anguished voices from the pit itself, as the harsh noise eviscerates your senses.
“allsystemsgo” continues from where “satanicdimensions” left off, however it has incorporated an eerie demonic electronic choir, which is driving the unholy star drive straight into the inferno that is “cosmicball,” yet another track clocking in at over ten minutes. The psychedelic effect of “masks” really hits you after listening to such constant noise, and it feels as if the aliens really are invading your brain, which leads in nicely to the last track, “alienscalling“. Yes, finally the little grey guys are melting your brain with their sonic vocals as everything burns to the ground.
DEATHCOMET16 is experimental noise that starts by rubbing your brain against sand paper, and then just builds into a new world order, intent on cellular annihilation, so the alien hordes don’t have to worry about cleaning up the carbon mess. Alien industrial metal in the form of DEATHCOMET is a mighty powerful thing.
SEVREN NI-ARB (synthesizers, computers, programming, vocals) and ESTEFANÍA (vocals) are X MARKS THE PEDWALK, and the Munster electronic aficionados have dropped the first video “FadingWaves,” that heralds the coming of their latest album, Superstition, which is due out in November on the label MeshworkMusic.
Paramedics race to save the life of a young man, laying on the ground. The music’s rhythm heightens the ambulance crew’s attempt to restart his heart, as it fades away and flatlines. The casualty joins the multitudes that these courageous first responders cannot always save. There is something sublime about the play of synths and vocals, beautifully tinged with thoughtful sadness. XMARKSTHEPEDWALK, as always, are masters of the synthpop genre and “FadingAway” is aimed straight for your heart.
Onyx Music Reviews 