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Daniel Edgar, David Battrick and Geoff Tripoli make up the US electronic band Monody, and February 21st saw the release of the EP, Abandoned Wisdom, out on Distortion Productions label. The EP is seven tracks long and is comprised of four original songs and three remixes by guest artists.

With AI creeping further into our lives, there is a healthy fear that they will take over human contact, but not be working in a human’s best interest. This is the theme of the darkly smooth “Artificial Ignorance,” which says the road was laid with good intentions that have been distorted. The clean vocals are easy on the ears, as are the synths. Second track “Drowning,” further drags you under the spell of Monody with the echoing singing and danceable rhythm, The “Drowning” is about choosing the best or easiest way for yourself, by feeding others to a system that doesn’t care about these individuals and groups. When this happens, we will all go down with the ship and message is probably more important than ever.

“Stand” has a lovely gravitas and has the feel of a self perpetuation rhythm device as the beats thrust the song forth. For me, this is about finding inner strength and the synths burn so brightly. The Hitchcock movie Gaslight is where the terminology began for making someone feel as if they are losing their mind, though it is all deflection and lies. There is a slightly oriental tone in the beginning of “Gaslight” and it is both intricate in sound and subject matter.

Geoff Pickney (Tenek/Cyclone Eye/The Nine) remixes “Drowning” and I have to admit he has really changed up the whole track where the electronics kind of have this Depeche Mode edge. You just know the “Stand” remix by Red Lokust is going to be kicking as the beats are doing overtime and the creepy growling vocals invade track. Crane 11 remixing “Artificial Ignorance” tricks you at first into thinking this is going to be an extremely laid-back affair, though it is still stripped back and heavy on the electronics.

Abandoned Wisdom is a carefully crafted EP, with a lot of thought going into vocals, synths and textures. Monody to my ear, almost sound like they could be from Europe, in the ilk of bands such as De/Vision and Beborn Beton. Perfect future synthpop.

Abandoned Wisdom | Monody

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London’s test plan are back! The latest single is called “My Teeth,” and I have to say, this is not the video to watch if you are having a current altered state of mind. I will just point the finger and say, it all the fault of Max Mason (drums, vocals), Michalis Fragkiadakis (guitar, backing vocals) and Rory Dickinson (bass, backing vocals).

Frenetic is the word that hits my tongue, as the bass is tortured into booming deeply, and the drums slash and cut through all. The vocals are diabolical, screaming at point blank range that you have no choice but to listen about teeth falling out.

As someone that knows teeth, I have to say that I saw a lot of nice dentition in the video, but also the horror come real in the form of large teeth. As a dental student, it is one of those fever dreams, being chased by rogue molars down the street. What is “My Teeth” all about? I don’t plan on looking too hard into what test plan are ranting on about, but it’s bloody great!

My Teeth | test plan

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Warsaw is a hotbed for darkwave music, and Grief.Christ are hitting you with their 2025 demo, called Make me wish I couldn’t beg.

They have mastered the ability to create a pall of claustrophobia in the creeping “Sinner Messiah,” that oozes the intent of a want-to-be saviour that cannot leave the entrenchment of death. An air of insanity taints “Safekeeping” with clattering electronic rhythms and fuzzed out vocals that wind over the retro science fiction sounding synths. “Child of hate” is going to grind you up and spit you out with the whirring drone, and yet it is not the fault of the child. It is a modern litany of pain and hopelessness, culminating in the ultimate end.

Blood and bone are good plant food and the track “Blue blood makes the roses grow so red” suggests that the more upper class the blood, the better the quality. A duel of female and male vocals are the present reminder of a relationship gone very wrong. Final track is “Push me back,” and it echoes the sentiment of “Blue blood makes the roses grow so red,” reiterating the ideas of blood and roses, and for me, pays homage to the Bjork single “Army of Me.” in the turbulent rhythm and humming electronics.

This is a name your price on Bandcamp and that is pretty good for a five track EP. Most tracks average out at about three minutes, with each entrenched in heavily morose imagery combined with an industrial edge. This is Grief.Christ and Make me wish i couldn’t beg (demo 2025).

Make me wish i couldn’t beg | Grief, Christ

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Matt Webster is a composer and musician from the heart of Bradford, UK, where life isn’t always easy and stories in songs are forged in the fires of the daily struggle. His project is Signia Alpha and often incorporates like minded music types such as Paul Gray, bass player of The Damned, and they have released the new full length player, the fairy-tale Wonderland.

The cool, almost reggae beginning to title track “Wonderland,” is married to the seemingly disinterested vocals, which makes this track curiouser and curiouser. The dual vocal by Webster and Harris are taking us down the rabbit hole to a world, our world, where big brother is in control, and are offering a pill to fix your head, or a pill to fix your health. The guitar work is light, but the vocals illicit feelings of restlessness. There is a play of words in regards to Star Trek in the track “A Slave To Enterprise.” Harris gives us vocals that are suitably disenchanted, wavering between the spoken word and the sung chorus, along with the smoky guitar, as they throw up that everything benefits the wealthy. This leads to the Bond inspired instrumental, “For Your Ears Only,” which feels whimsical and an escape into a world of spies, fast cars, faster women, and martinis, shaken, not stirred. It is a mixture of organ like keyboard and duelling guitars that blend magnificently. Paul Tunnicliffe provides his honey rough vocals for the empathy filled “Anyway.” Grungy and stripped back, “Anyway” plays to its strengths and the harmonica makes you think of America in the 30s and 40s, when the homeless often rode the trains for free to eek out an existence.

Returning for the track “Starlight,” Tunnicliffe croons with that gravel worn voice, over psychedelic guitars, stretched sax, and fluttering flute. There is something delicate and magical about “Moonlight” and it hints of a Damned influence. There are delightful guitars reminiscent of the sound of the Damned, Damned, Damned album (though the band says The Black Album…. potato/tomato), sculking saxophone and an air of just letting go in order to enjoy life, and this is possibly my favourite track. “Killing Flies” is one of the first singles and has the dulcet tones of Webster serenading you. Between the story of why they are murdering those buzzing winged creeps in the middle of an English summer and being drawn in by the acoustic guitar, this is an amusing tale. Maybe sleeping in a squat is not such a good idea, but the track is a memory of misguided youth spent in Czechoslovakia.

At the beginning, I say this album is a fairy-tale, as Wonderland is where Alice disappears and in a round about way, finds herself. Most fairy-tales are often based in real life and they don’t really end happily ever after. This is what we experience. Life and it isn’t easy for the common folk with juggling money, time, mental health, aging and a litany of other parameters. Wonderland is the every day, where its joys and flaws are perfectly shared through a myriad musical styles, blended together, with the lynch pin being Matt Webster.

Wonderland | Signia Alpha

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Lo-fi grit-ware is a new genre for me, so here is Dead Atlantis, from the USA, which is the project of Jeffery Carrico. The newest single is called “Whitewash.”

I am pretty impressed that this style of music is not done of a computer and does not contain any loops, but rather what you hear is basically all done live when recorded, apart from the drum machine. The noises Carrico wrings from his synths is incredible. The oscillating, whirring and creating a vastness that only experimentation can do.

The vocals waver between yelled punctuation, impassioned singing and guttural growling. All this and the lyrics are about mental health, where doubt colours every move, thought and breath. given power by those vocals. Pretty good this lo-fi grit-wave stuff and so is Dead Atlantis with “Whitewash.”

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Things I know. The band The Dark Wave formed in 2019, and is a new wave/post-punk from the Netherlands. Jelmer Luimstra of April Afternoon, joined them in 2023, and now they have released their second single “One of These Days.”

There are chiming guitars and the synths have a breezy, light feel. The hint that this track is not all sunshine and lollipops, is the heavy bass below everything, and of course, those lyrics about being trapped. Smooth as silk vocals are the cheery on top.

If you enjoy eating sea food, you might feel rather remorseful after watching the music video, though the lyrics are using the lobster as a metaphor for once being free and if you aren’t aware of what is happening around you, that freedom can disappear. Kind of pertinent for the current political climate. “One of These Days” is the more modern equivalent of The Manic Street Preacher’s “If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next,” and The Dark Wave are poking you to open your eyes with good indie pop.

One of These Days | The Dark Wave

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US/Swedish band Normoria, released their second EP, Welcome To Normoria, at the end of 2024. The EP is made up of five tracks, and three of those include guest artists in the form of Erk Aicrag (Hocico/Rabia Sorda),  Nysrok Infernalien (Alien Vampires) and MATT HART, who join Angel Moonshine (vocals), Johan (bass) and Gustav (guitar).

Your introduction is an instrumental, which is also the title confirming this is going to be an electronic journey. We think of colonialism as something that is in the past.. history that we should be learning from, because it destroys lives, cities, countries and even civilisations. The track “Stolen Lands” is not just about the past horrors, but also the most current ongoing wars and genocide. Featuring the vocals of Aicarg, it is a fierce cyber industrial song, sung in both English and Spanish, and whipping you up with its frenetic energy. The last lines are ‘Corran defiendan sus tierras que vienen las bestias listas para atacar,’ which loosely translates to ‘Run, defend your lands, for the beasts are coming, ready to attack.’

The man with the most wicked moustache in all of the British industrial scene, MATT HART features in “Paralyzed.” Why am I not surprised that this track is about alien invaders, but none the less, those tricky space beings are tormenting people in their sleep. Moonshine vocalises the distress of abduction, while HART’s emphasis on the chorus word ‘paralysed,’ bringing home the crushing affect of no control.

The fourth track is the intro piece “Divided Colors,” which is slow and laboured, as Moonshine builds up the anticipation for the last track which is the main “Divided Colors” featuring Infernalien, and it is a big finish. Brash and bold, “Divided Colors” stands between hip hop and industrial, and this alone is a comment on what the track is about. This is a timely reminder that being a fascist, believing in some weird racial purity bullcrap doesn’t cut it in the modern era, so Moonshine and Infernalien growl this out to the world as the music pounds out to reiterate the theme. The EP is very current with its ideals and spot on with its delivery, plus three very danceable tracks, so Welcome To Normoria.

Welcome To Normoria | NORMORIA

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Portland based Mercury’s Antennae are back after a break with a new single,  “The Reflecting Skin,” which has been released on the Sett Records label and mixed by William Faith (Faith & the Muse/Bellwether Syndicate). Multi-instrumentalist, Erick r. Scheid of The Palace of Tears, vocalist Dru Allen and bassist Cindy Coulter, who are both from This Ascension, make up Mercury’s Antennae and an interesting tid bit you might not know is that Coulter and Faith are siblings, and Coulter was a live member of Faith & The Muse.

“This track has quite a storied history! I originally came up with the primary bass part back when I was in This Ascension with Dru in the mid 1990s! I presented it to the band, I jammed it out with our drummer Matt and Dru a number of times, but it was one of those ideas that just never took flight. It got shelved for decades, but I always felt like maybe it would find a home somewhere. Erick was very energized by the part and was like “we need to make this a song!” I didn’t have a chorus written, so we collabe’d on that, Dru added her wonderful lyrics and voice, and it all came together very nicely”. – Cindy Coulter

Allen’s voice has matured, and, to my ears become more powerful and evocative. Now that guitar, which happens to be a twelve string… it is sinuous and writhes in a glorious way, and yet it smoothly entwine with the synths, creating an echoing, dark ambience that feels timeless. This is a track that has waited until now to emerge, and maybe this was fortuitous, as it has received the sparkling Faith workover, and “The Reflecting Skin” is now a gothic gem by Mercury’s Antennae.

The Reflecting Skin (William Faith Remix) | Mercury’s Antennae

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‎Mercury’s Antennae – Apple Music

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THEODOROS is the solo project of Theodoros Dimitriou, who is also a founding member of Greek dark rock band Lefki Symphonia. With all new acts, there must be a debut single, and so we have “Every Day I Die,” which is off his first album of the same title.

The guitar is ominous from the start and Dimitriou’s vocals are laid back which feels utterly befitting, even with the rolling, danceable rhythms and occasionally wailing guitar riffs. The synths are subtle in the mix and this all highlights the dramatic lyrics and singing.

‘Every day I’m born again, Every day I die‘ and I am left wondering if this track is about when we sleep, if this is the death or if it is just fancy dark imagery. In any case, this post-punk song is easy on the ears and Dimitriou’s Greek accent adds to the mysterious allure. THEODOROS’ “Every Day I Die” will most likely lodge itself in your brain for a while and is a most worthy gothic club track.

Every Day I Die (Single) | THEODOROS

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DREAM RITUAL – Record Label and Publishing House

THEODOROS DIMITRIOU – Musician – Λευκή Συμφωνία/Lefki Symphonia

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New year and new single from the transatlantic team Lunar Paths. Diane Dubois and Kevin Hunter have dropped a technoir terror in the form of “Zero Trust Mentality.”

The clatter of looped rhythms, first started as drumming that Hunter laid down, have been fed into Dubois‘ sequencer, and it almost thunders, distorted and melding with the synths. An urgency from the electronics as they pulse frenetically, exploding around the cool vocals, that are almost spoken word, building the tension.

Apparently Meta in Facebook, at the end of last year (2024) left people wondering if they had been hacked, and honestly, in recent times, our online data has come under attack from individuals and even other countries. That is what this track is about, where we are finding new ways to protect our electronic lives. “Zero Trust Mentality” is kind of like Lunar Paths’ “Sleeper in Metropolis” and this might be an unconscious nod to Anne Clark. Not to mention the synths in the beginning have an 80s feel as it kind of reminded me of Japan’s excellent “Quiet Life.” This is Lunar Paths’ most industrial and dance floor friendly track in this era of “Zero Trust Mentality.”

Zero Trust Mentality | Lunar Paths

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Postpunk, Darkwave, Music | LUNAR PATHS

Lunar Paths (@lunarpaths.bsky.social) — Bluesky