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Portland…..tis the area rich in musicians, and I am starting to think they need to put up a warning sign, ‘Beware of Darkwave Hazards and Dancing‘. And so, we have relatively new group Human Hollow, made up of members Austin McKee and Lucia Luna since 2024. The independent duo have a new single called “Playing Dead.”

Called by the siren Luna, lured into the danse macabre, towards the tale of an abusive relationship, where the other person is living rent free and she is unable to break free. The multitrack layering gives you the illusion of multiple angels in unison and there is this harsh edge to the track, that could almost cut the skin. McKee can be heard near the end, like a final toll to the inevitable end of a survivor.

Human Hollow are leaning into a more industrial sound. They use a lot of old tech analogue synths in the form of MiniMoog Voyager and Korg MiniKorg, while their drum machine in an Akai SR19. This lends itself to a meatier sound and the fact they have said they a sampling noises like bashing metal things makes this all so much more cooler. Human Hollow might be singing about “Playing Dead,” but they are absolutely electric.

Playing Dead | Human Hollow

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October is always a good month for dark alternative releases and Berlin based VV & The Void dropped the single “DEVOTION (Release the Bats – Halloween Remix).” Valentina Veil is the VV (vocals, guitar, synths, programming) with Brandon Robert (bass guitar) and Phillip Haut (drums) making up VV & The Void.

Ringing, twisting and echoing envelops your senses between the dreamy guitars, billowing synths and VV’s romantically clandestine vocals. The bass deep and drone like, holds the ethereal rest of the track from floating away as it gradually becomes a wall of melodic noise.

The band is originally is from Melbourne, and any Australian goth type will tell you that “Release the Bats” brings forth the vision of Nick Cave and The Birthday Party and even though “DEVOTION” is not as punk, there is a rawness to them, like an open wound that never heals and they are wallowing in that experience. You can enjoy drowning in the experimental shoegaze of VV & The Void with “DEVOTION (Release The Bats – Halloween Remix).”

DEVOTION (Release The Bats – Halloween Remix) | VV & The Void

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