Glaswegian band, Hanging Freud have a new single, out on the Belgian Spleen+ label, just before the release of their seventh studio album, titled Worship. The track is called “Falling Tooth,” and the name alone made me feel all creepy. Not sure what Paula Borges and Jonathan Skinner have been up to, but I’m not sure if I’m up to hearing about falling teeth.

The rhythm sounds like a clock, ticking down, while Borges vocals gracefully wander the soundscape like a ghost searching for completion. Electronics whir and drone, building the tension, as time ignores all of it, matching on.

Beautifully avant-garde and engrossing, like a fever dream that takes you down a path of your mind, you never knew existed. Hanging Freud’s first offering off the new album leaves you wondering what is next… though I am rather relieved to say no teeth were hurt nor fell in the creation of “Falling Tooth.”

https://hangingfreud.bandcamp.com/track/falling-tooth

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

Portland, Oregon seems to be a hive of darkwave activity and one of the latest acts is Luscious Apparatus and as of the 27th of May, they dropped their second single, “Bricks & Bones“. This four piece is made up of members, Sandi Leeper (vocals, bass, synths), Cate Hukle (guitars), Jack Norton (synth, programming, guitar), and Daniel Henderson (drums). The inception of the band was 2019 with Norton and then gathering other members to the project.

There is definitely a shoegaze air to this track with those swirling guitars and lilting vocals in a Cocteau Twins fashion. The guitars strengthen as the drums propel them forward. Leeper’s vocals entwine with the synths, gracing the air with a lightness that belies the monster that has been disturbed from it’s slumber, so no amount of sticks will stop it and then it will grind your bones.

There is a pervading lightness in the whirling spirals of sound that harken back to bands like Cocteau Twins or Lush with those lovely female vocals but especially the sonic electronic noise of Curve. Beautiful, strong and downright bestial is “Bricks & Bones” by that Luscious Apparatus.

Luscious Apparatus (bandcamp.com)

Luscious Apparatus | Facebook

https://www.instagram.com/lusciousapparatuspdx/