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.
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.
Berlin based NIGHTNAIL have a new album, FatesExplained, out in November on MetropolisRecords, but September sees the post-punk project dropping the first single, “NarcolepticDreamCatcher.”
The wonderful jangle of guitar fills the air and is joined by the trickling sighs of ValentinaVeil (VV& The Void), which help set the tone of the track. PeteBurns of KillShelter fame, graces us with the meaty bass lines that support NIGHTNAIL’s entrancing vocals.
Produced, mixed and mastered by the ever busy Burns, “Narcoleptic Dream Catcher” sweetly drips post-punk goodness, that would easily get a gothic two step going on the dancefloor. Both delicate and swirling like the motes of smoke of extinguished candles, this phantasmagorical NIGHTNAIL single, does not deserve to be a sleeper.
GIVE/TAKE are the US based label bringing you the new single from Grammy Amplifier nominated artist KPT (KEPT), whom is one half of DEATHDANCE. The new single is called “Collared,” from the Minneapolis based dark electronic musician, who has worked with the likes of EnEsch, MyLifeWith TheThrillKillCult and MartinKing of TestDept, but to name a few.
Photo by Jason Larkin
An eerie static load grates your ears, swelling like a tsunami far out to sea, building in destructive force. A noticeable click click holds its own until there is an explosive release, frenzied and consuming. A tension between the electronic elements threatening to rip at the seams and yet still holding together, joined by the rumbling vocals, just perceivable above the tumultuous mixture of textures.
“Collared” is about the sexual ownership of another and exploring that dynamic of dominator versus submission. Aggressive control of the buzzing electronics is tempered by the flow of power… just as a good psychosexual relationship should be. KPT have created a vast and engrossing track with an equally delightful video.
We are lucky at Onyx to have the premiere release of the video with single “Luftmangel,” from Vlimmer on the BlackjackIlluministRecords label. Berlin local, AlexanderLeonardDonat is a man whose energy knows no bounds, as this new single does not appear on the brand new album, Zerschöpfung, that dropped at the end of August, but rather a track that did not vibe with the rest of that particular album, yet worthy of its own release.
Donat’s vocals, as always for me in these recent releases, really make his music a bit special and there is no exception in “Luftmangel.” The bass laden electronic undertones, serve to highlight the throbbing and pulsating synths, a juxtaposition of heaviness versus buoyant light. Those dark accents just make your senses quiver in delight and you can hear a harkening back to early GaryNuman.
‘“Luftmangel” (German for “deficient air”) is about my grandmother and her final days. She didn’t opt for any life-prolonging measures when she was diagnosed with pneumonia on top of feeling absolutely exhausted due to decrepitude. One day before she died, lying in a hospital bed, she told me that she had a nice life and she was ready to go, which was pretty overwhelming for me. I was the last person ever she had a conscious conversation with, and I’m grateful for that. The song was initially written for the “Zerschöpfung” album, but at the end it didn’t fit the mood and, with a heavy heart, I decided to throw it off. However, to me it has some kind of old school, original Vlimmer vibe circa 2017/18, and I’m happy to release it as the new single.‘ – Alexander Leonard Donat
It is those dark tones that gives us the foreboding of something emotionally overwhelming and watching a loved one leave this realm is a sadness we bear and yet there is a gratefulness in being privileged to having them in your life. “Luftmangel” comes to us all, but there is so much beauty to behold in a human life and, indeed, in the single from Vlimmer.
In another era, DianeDubois and KevinHunter, were part of the UK goth scene, that parted ways in the 80s, and fortuitously reclaimed that friendship during the covid pandemic, forming the project LunarPaths. The end of August saw them release their latest independent single, “BURN“.
The looping and abrasive electronic samples and synths set the background for the echoing vocals of Dubois, as she goes from whispers to full throated and delicious croons. All the while, Hunter’s rhythms set the pace ranging from tribal through to thumping out the driving time signature.
I can’t deny that this LunarPath track, while very experimental in nature, definitely reminds me very much of early Siouxsie and the Banshees, who also were extraordinary pioneers of post-punk music. “BURN” was written by the duo as they conversed about the fires raging in Greece, where Dubois has a home. An idea about the world on fire has given us a track that can set you ablaze, from LunarPaths.
The goth-synthpop princess, MissFD launched the single “Distractions” in August, out on the label QuantumReleaseRecords. Not only does MissFD compose, sing and produce, but she always has something interesting to impart through her music.
Synths wail like sirens, for there is an emergency at hand. The urgency is free flowing and MissFD’s vocals leave you with no uncertainty that you proceed at your own peril. There is a gruffness, wanting to draw your attention as the driving rhythm gives you focus from the distractions of the everyday.
A cry out to humanity, for the sake of the planet to recognise the fact people are causing mass effect destruction, that will take themselves out and a good chunk of the creatures we share the planet with. MissFD is channelling the voice of the Earth, because it cannot, but you can be sucked into her “Distractions“.
Onyx Music Reviews 