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Kasumuen Records brings to you high definition thrills and spills, in the form of the new single “Victory Girl” by Melbourne based band Velvet Parade, an Australian super group made up of Ripley Hood (lead vocals) of Lime Spiders, Vincent J Kramer (guitar) of Cold Harbour, Peter Azzopardi (bass, backing vocals) of Claire Birchall’s Phantom Hitchhikers, Ashley Jones (keyboard) of Matt Malone’s Holy Spirits and Fraudband’s Don Drum (drums).

I had forgotten how rich Hood’s vocals can be, like bourbon whiskey, that slowly burns at it goes down, bringing the drama, and “Victory Girl” is a perfect tune for his singing. The other elements of the track are equally important with the strikingly rolling drums setting the pace, the stoic charged guitars adding the wonderful twang of consequence, and, of course, the piano that creates a touch of class in a town full of dust, trampled dreams and a love won, then lost..

There is a rawness to this track, and it brings the same chills down the spine as Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ From Her To Eternity and points to a sound so profoundly Australian. Grippingly disjointed at times, that resolves into a grandiose upheaval of boudoir southern gothic honky-tonk, a perfect mixture of maudlin and yesterday’s personal regrets. The debut LP from Velvet Parade will not be far behind, which has been recorded, mixed and mastered by Loki Lockwood and Dugald Jayes, so all I can say is that I am down for this and a whole lot more…..

Velvet Parade – Victory Girl

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For some of us, certain rules seem more like a suggestion such as cuddling bears or snogging large cats. This brings us to the new maxi single “Kissing Lions,” by Massachusetts band Ghost Painted Sky, a gothic trio consisting of David Strong, Lisa Wood and Michael Boudreau. The single heralds in the soon to be released second album titled Failure Blooms.

Sinuous post-punk guitars greet your ears. “Kissing Lions” has Wood’s vocals in a deep register, casting a mournful pall across the track that has its roots firmly planted in The Cure’s Pornography era. There is a claustrophobic quality, where the lyrics pour forth the lament of an existence based in humdrum.

There is a Effervescent Remix of the single and a brilliant B-side called “My Words Are Not My Own,” that is a complete change of direction as it is very much an electronic affair, and it is a magical thing to hear them fluidly change from guitar based, into synths.

“‘Kissing Lions’ describes those mostly vain attempts to seize on anything that creates a fleeting feeling of being alive for a moment amid relentless waves of the humdrum, doldrums, and failure, which so often end up being misguided and ultimately just creating a thicker mire even more strangling than the original situation one sought to escape… bad decisions that bite back and create further downward spirals.” – David Strong

This single and the new album have been mixed and mastered by William Faith, which is kind a mark of quality. Love, love the grittiness of the subject melded with the dark 80s post-punk sound. So the question is, do you take the safer, more mundane path of existence or do pucker up with the king of the jungle for the quick thrill and find yourself the favourite treat with the gooey centre?

Kissing Lions (maxi-single) | Ghost Painted Sky

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There is nothing wrong with indie pop/rock, especially with its jangle guitar and honest lyrics. Hitherto, if you have not heard about New York’s Heroes Formula, made up of members Lucas Lappin, Adam Szot, and Brandon Crooks, then behold the single “Ode To My Wife,” an independent release that came out in May.

“Ode To My Wife” has that 90s sound about it, like a nod towards such acts as Teenage Fanclub and Matthew Sweet, where there an certain tone to the guitar, the clean vocals with simple harmonising that brings everything to life, and a humanity to the words. This is a man unloading how he destroyed his marriage to the woman who loved him, through excesses and betrayal. The consequence of squandering his life was losing her, of which you can feel the inner turmoil though the sawing guitar. Heroes Formula have brought together perfectly the sweet and sour of real life in a memorable indie pop bubble.

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Ghost Reflections are a darkwave band from Turin, Italy, a duo of musicians who call themselves Murmur and Mir. 2026 has already been a busy year for them and September was the release for the latest single “Descending.”

The guitar is the first thing to grab your attention, dominating and sinewed, growing with the voracity of the track, fed by the deep vocals as they devolve into manic screaming. This is the “Descending,” between gothic horror and the pit of no return, where delicate synths are in stark contrast with the eldritch singing, and the guitar is the harbinger of doom.

Music | Ghost Reflections

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Nicole Fior-Greant is the solo artist behind the darkwave industrial project NICO AMARA, based in Basel, Switzerland. She is about to release her second album, PUNISHMENT MACHINERY, based off the tale of Dante’s Inferno, on October the 17th, however the first single from said album, has dropped at the end of September, called “Burn.”

PHOTO BY ZAK GREANT

The rhythm is juicy, thick and electronic. There is a programmed drone that builds in urgency, and the vocals balance out that inorganic element, however NICO AMARA has become a part of the machine, with cold and unrelenting spoken words that move industriously with those same beats.

One gets the notion that “Burn” is a commentary on how people watch the world through a lens where they feel they have no responsibility or basically the attitude ‘it’s not my fault.’ Thought provoking and catchy all at the same time, we have now stepped into the first level of the inferno with NICO AMARA.

Burn | NICO AMARA

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September broke the new single “The House on the Hill,” by California’s Low Battery. Their style could be described as lo-fi dark ambient pop, taking inspiration from books, movies, poetry and art, which points to the name of the album Inspired By, that will be out in 2027.

The breathy vocals are ghost like, lingering in the echoes between the piano and plucked guitar. It is those echoes that colour the very air, in tones of grey mixing with the oscillations, blending an atmosphere of unearthliness and the haunting hours.

“House on the Hill” is ethereal as vapour, as if your fingers were to try and hold onto smoke, only to find it is floating away. Everything feels like a dream filled with such longing, to a point where you may question if it is the singer’s fancy or a spectre of the past. In “House on the Hill,” Low Battery have created something powerfully delicate, like a single finger moving down bare skin.

The House On The Hill | Low Battery

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Some people can be a tad mysterious and on that note, there is a new single from Bradford based project Signia Alpha, called “Cascade.” Matt Webster is the musical wizard that pulls the strings, and knows some bloke who knows this other bloke, and pulls it all together. Also appearing on the track is Harris and some fella called Paul, was meant to play the bass, but one Paul Gray of some unknown band called The Damned, though often seen in the vicinity at times, missed out on this beauty.

Extra trivia note is the x-ray does belong to one of the mentioned names as they become Lee Majors (insert Bionic Man noises here).

There is a very quintessential Englishness about “Cascade” and a harkening back to “Scarborough Fair.” Possibly it is the plucked acoustic guitar, or the dual vocals that are reminiscent of Simon & Garfunkel, with those delicate harmonisations. It does poke at the edges of your imagination with that strong chorus, healthy drums and wandering deep bass lines. Oh my heart…”Cascade” pulls at the strings with the not only the beauty of the music, but also lyrics about life and how choices from the past can come back to colour your present, and haunt the future. Tis magic.

Music | Signia Alpha

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What do you get when you mix two parts Sunshine Blind and one part The Wake? A band named Los Tres Mortales with the debut single called “Bourbon,” boasting vocalists/lyricists Troy Payne (The Wake) and Caroline Blind (Sunshine Blind) with CWHK (Sunshine Blind), master of instruments and music. They are joined by Rich W. (The Wake) lending his mercurial guitar skills to the lead solo for this track.

Do you like your bourbon with rock? Payne and Blind have such distinct voices, which is a joy in itself in an age where auto-tune has reduced many to the bargain bin of indistinguishable, and Caroline’s powerful honey mellow singing is the perfect foil for the low timbre of Payne. The guitars are just beautiful with deep smoky tones that keep the drums company, and the lead guitar spiderwebbing its way as the highlight sweet notes.

The initial gustation of “Bourbon,” is vintage US gothic rock of the late 80s and early 90s, the top shelf stuff that hits you with a warmth that spreads through the chest, in that most delightful way. There is the southern gothic twang mixed with tomorrows buyer’s regret, viewed from the bottom of a bottle. The overall mouth-taste is classic and timeless, which is pretty good for three mortals.

Bourbon | Los Tres Mortales

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Gothenburg, Sweden is possibly one of the best named cities if you are in a darkwave band and admittedly the quality of music from this one place is quite extraordinary. From Gothenburg is Angels In Shade and this is the premier of the single “Out of Time,” on the label BLCK_FLWRS.

A driving dancefloor electronics beat out a sense of urgency, before joined by the lo-fi vocals. The synths are like a racing heartbeat, with rivulets of higher chords highlighting the dark. The lyrics are about how we are running short on time.

As humans, we live a finite life span, just as everything in the natural world, though with global warming, and ergo, increasing natural disasters, putting the Earth on a possible deadline. “Out Of Time” is a great darkwave track from Angels In Shade. Sure, they are a bit mysterious, but man they know how to touch us through the music.

Out Of Time | Angels In Shade

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The lads of Silver Owls are from Cork, Ireland, and the duo have known each other it seems for a lifetime. John Haggis and Eddie Butt lives have been entwined with music, especially with the project Emperor of Ice Cream (1991-1995, 2000-current), and now Silver Owls, spawning the shoegaze single “Blinded by the Darkness” in July.

The beginning is almost diaphanous in its simplicity, with the vocals as the most important point, setting up the narrative and like the video, the singing floats. And like an ocean, things change quickly, where the music swells between the guitar and electronics, creating that front of shoegaze noise, which is glorious, yet ebbs and flows. A shoegazing melting pot of delicate and joy, would be the best description of “Blinded by the Darkness,” and it truly is a joy from Silver Owls.

Blinded by the Darkness | Silver Owls

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