The second Girls Under Glass single has been released with video, called “Dream Yourself Away“, in anticipation for the new album Backdraft, out on Dependant Records. Original singer, Tom Lücke, re-joined the band in 2016, after leaving back in 1989, which has brought back those wonderful vocals that greeted us on the first Girls Under Glass releases and this track can be found on the Deluxe Version of Backdraft.

“It is a positive outlook on life in the present and in future. The text asks to deal with the important issues now and with confidence. The song is directly linked to my time with GIRLS UNDER GLASS back in the days, but it is also connected through the 1980s vibes within me to the present. To me, it nearly appears as if the days in between have never existed. I regard this song highly as a present and it moves me very much to see it being released as a single.” – Tom Lücke

There is a thrill that goes down my spine and I can’t decide if it is from the ringing guitars, the thumping bass or the succulent keyboards, but Lücke’s vocals definitely lend themselves to creating a mesmerising track. So builds the hunger for the new album from Girls Under Glass.

Backdraft (Deluxe Edition) | Girls Under Glass (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/GirlsUnderGlassEst1986?mibextid=ZbWKwL

Australians Gerry Hawkins (Cryogenic Echelon) and Lawrie, aka Lawrie Masson (Studio X), are back with a new single/EP for their project Avarice In Audio, called “War Tanz“, tanz meaning dance, on the Alfa Matrix label. 2022 saw the release of the fifth studio album, Our Idols Are Filth and “War Tanz” is the second single.

Slamming electronic beats, Hawkins‘ gravelled vocals and those warbling synths that breakout during the chorus. They are pounding the dance track into your skull, the motivation to stop being a observer inside your own life, in “War Tanz“. Alien:Nation next have the remix, injecting heavenly synths into the more techno influenced version, though those mammoth beats still blast through, highlighted by the tinkling keyboards.

Lawrie is no slouch nor stranger when it comes to the remix, so the Studio-X mix is hardly a surprise. From the beginning, it is stripped down with the vocals at the fore, with hints of synths and it is amazingly effective, and equally danceable. It might be time to bust a move with the “Downer Grooves“, an instrumental to get on down with, and get on up again, which does not appear on the album.

Brilliant heavy beats, evocative vocals and scintillating remixes…. does it get any better than that? Industrial dance music done right by Avarice In Audio and they are calling you to the “War Tanz” against mundane.

War Tanz EP | AVARICE IN AUDIO | Alfa Matrix (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/avariceinaudioaus?mibextid=ZbWKwL

http://alfa-matrix-store.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix?mibextid=ZbWKwL

In 2020, ABU NEIN released their first album, Secular Psalms, and now the band, hailing for Malmö, Sweden, are about to drop their next called II, on Progress Productions. But before that happens, there is a new single, “Kissing The Glove“.

From the first electronic beats, “Kissing The Glove” simply oozes dance floor killer, with buckets of seduction drawing you in. The track pulsates and causes a quickening of your heart. The vocals send a shiver of pure joy down your spine while the synths darkly rumble.

This is an impossibly wonderful darkwave track that is gorgeously drenched in eroticism. So what is the mystery of the left hand? Maybe all will be revealed in II, but for now, we have “Kissing The Glove” by ABU NEIN.

▶︎ Kissing the Glove | ABU NEIN (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063707343343

https://www.facebook.com/ProgressPro

It is hardly surprising that New Orleans is a simmering pot of shrouded bedlam, and there is nothing better than introducing a new band with a debut single. Deep Sleep Atlantic is a duo from the Big Easy, and their dark grungy rock single is “Bipolar Tendencies“.

The impending creeping doom in the beginning of the track is heightened by the singular guitar that is joined by the matter of fact vocals, and then it all takes off. A story of mental health that has coloured the storyteller’s life, conversing with the voices in his head. The drums power through, with the guitar seemingly dancing within the piece and vocals that utterly suit that track in both attitude and sound.

I haven’t moved for days
It’s not that I don’t wanna be
Outside with my friends
But why would I go out when they’re all inside my head

Deep Sleep Atlantic have a big rock sound and they remind me a lot of another US act, Queens Of The Stone Age, not only in sound but also the quirky sense of humour, even in the face of a serious subject. “Bipolar Tendencies” is a very classy first track, so now we await for what Deep Sleep Atlantic proffer next.

Bipolar Tendencies | Deep Sleep Atlantic (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/deepsleepatlantic?mibextid=ZbWKwL

Over a year ago, some guy called Garrett Cooper, in South Australia, decided to create a new project called Brave Mistakes. He then thought that he might put out one original song a month, for a whole year. When you listen to each of the tracks, you can hear the progression as Cooper developed his singing talent and grew more comfortable in his role of songwriter. Somewhere on this journey, he has found like minded musicians and Brave Mistakes is now a fully fledged band. A new single has just dropped called “Unchained Melody“.

The style is simple and straightforward, with guitars interlacing delicately, between plucked and strummed. Cooper’s singing is definitely the focal point, smooth and rich like honey, as the lyrics roll of his tongue. The track is saturated in longing, for time and distance can be unkind to lovers.

Sounds familiar I hear you say. Yes, it is a cover of the 1965 song, first performed by The Righteous Brothers and made famous yet again in the movie Dirty Dancing in the late 80s. This solemn rendition is near spine tingling, the musicianship stunning and I swear Cooper’s vocals get better every time I hear him. A perfect version of “Unchained Melody” to slow dance with your dearest, by Brave Mistakes.

Unchained Melody | Brave Mistakes (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/bravemistakes?mibextid=ZbWKwL

Italian band, Codice EGO, are back with a new single, “Errors And Repairs“, which is off their soon to be released EP, Rainbow’s End.

A whirlwind of guitars and shifting drum rhythms greet us. The vocals are an island, constant amongst the rolling instrumentation, telling a story of how something happened to them without any known reason, weaving her spell, drawing you into the musical web.

The EP is based around a sudden and unexplained illness, experienced by one of the band members. “Errors And Repairs” is part of this story, a disconnect between the sickness and struggling to comprehend why and how. This is a deeply personal journey, laid bare for the listener by Codice EGO in a raw and yet stunning track.

https://www.facebook.com/CodiceEGO/?mibextid=ZbWKwL

Home

Jarrad Robertson is the captain of the scurrilous pack Sea Lungs, with Andi Lennon as the vocal navigator and linguist, while Robertson and first mate Micheal Johnson steer the musical course. “Parlour Tricks” is the latest single which has magically appeared on Bandcamp for your listening pleasure. (Ignore the 12th of April date, because it is available NOW!!)

If you haven’t guessed from the cover photo, it is about those that dabble in the occult for an audience, deceitfully conjuring up the dead, using smoke and mirrors, for fame and money. “Parlour Tricks“is decidedly heavier than previous tracks, with a more deathrock drone of guitars. Lennon never misses a beat, which is amazing with his wordy lyrics that would be tricky for less nimble tongues. The lumbering death march for those passed, and a message for the living that no amount of incantations from charlatans can communicate with the dead. Sea Lungs are here to say. It’s all a “ParlourTrick” but rock on anyway.

Parlour Tricks | Sea Lungs (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/sealungs?mibextid=ZbWKwL

Antipole & Paris Alexander are hitting us hard and fast with the singles, giving us the release of their next in the form of “Midnight Shadows“. This is the second single off the album Crystalline, which is slated to be out on Young And Cold Records as of May 12th.

Echoing sexy whispers, hang between the electronics. The guitar filters through, caressing the synths as they proceed forwards, shrouded in moonlit monochrome. It almost feels like the spirits of the past are crying out in the electronics, trying to hold you between worlds where time stands still.

Dreams, reality, or something in between? A trick of the light has given us this gorgeous darkwave track that is letting us peer through a gauzy, rhythm driven other world created by Karl Morten Dahl (Antipole) and Alexander. Beware of “Midnight Shadows” or you might fall under the spell of Antipole & Paris Alexander.

https://antipole.bandcamp.com/album/crystalline

https://www.facebook.com/antipoleband?mibextid=ZbWKwL

https://parisalexander.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/paris.alexander.5623?mibextid=ZbWKwL

https://www.facebook.com/youngandcoldrecords?mibextid=ZbWKwL

For myself, the name Girls Under Glass is heavily entwined with my memories of the 90s. The German gothic industrial icons are back baby, on the label Dependant Records, with a new single “We Feel Alright“. Even more exciting is the fact that on June the 2nd, the album Backdraft is being released, and this is the first album for Girls Under Glass in eighteen years.

The first strains of electronics made the hairs of the back of my neck tingle, before we are plunged into a maelstrom lead by guitars, which yet again morphs into synths, melding with those very guitars. The vocals break through with lyrics of finding hope and enduring companionship.

Verdict is… it’s so, so good. I feel ultra nostalgic, and I admit that my eyes teared up with pure delight hearing this track. Girls Under Glass have lost none of what made them so great, and it seems time has tempered them into an even more powerful force. Not only do “We Feel Alright” but Girls Under Glass sound pretty great after all these years.

We Feel Alright | Girls Under Glass (bandcamp.com)

Girls Under Glass | Facebook

http://en.dependent.de/girls-under-glass/

Dependent Records | Facebook

Infacted Recordings released on the 24th of March, the new single “Already Dead“, a combined effort from TEKNOVORE (Greece) & J:dead (UK).

The beats when they kick in are like a heart in the midst of going into tachycardia, racing it feels at a hundred miles an hour. Psytrance bombastic swirling synths combine with J:dead’s vocals going from sweet to ramping up the fucking gravity with his trademark growling.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any bigger, they smack you up the side of the head with the FabrikC remix that literally stomps. Jay Taylor is definitely not dead, with the screams being ripped from his body as the music slams into the realm of harder industrial.

And for good measure, they have The Saint Paul remix, heavy techno with scintillating synths, that lifts the track into a futuristic realm, spinning you until you are dizzy.

Wow. Just wow. If you tell me you are bored listening to “Already Dead” three times in a row, I think we might have to pronounce you, dear listener, as D.O.A…. an ex parrot pining for the fjords. It’s bloody amazing. The guys, TEKNOVORE and J: Dead, have smashed this and kudos to the remixers for their superb skills. It kicks arse and like a drug, you’ll be coming back for more.

Already Dead | Teknovore | Infacted Recordings (bandcamp.com)

https://jdeadband.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/TeknoVoreMusic?mibextid=ZbWKwL

https://www.facebook.com/jdeadband?mibextid=ZbWKwL

https://www.facebook.com/fabrikc?mibextid=ZbWKwL

https://www.facebook.com/TheSaintPaulTSP?mibextid=ZbWKwL

https://www.facebook.com/infactedworld?mibextid=ZbWKwL