Synthwave – Page 7 – 7th Level Music

Anika returns with “Hearsay” off her upcoming new album due April 04, 2025.

“Hearsay” video still (directed by Laura Martinova)

Anika — the British-born, Berlin-based musician Annika Henderson — announces her new album, Abyss, out April 4th on Sacred Bones, and shares its lead single / video, “Hearsay.” Abyss was born out of the frustration, anger, and confusion Henderson feels from existing in our contemporary world. Notably heavier than 2021’s Change, the 10-track album is raw, urgent, and fueled by strong emotions. Pulsing with a heavy guitar and rhythm section, Abyss takes Anika on a new sonic journey.

“There’s so much going on in the world, and you have to sit there and watch it through a screen

that you’ve allowed into your home, like a vampire who had been preying at your door, then immediately digest it, have an opinion, and publicly comment on it,” Anika says. “The state of the world just feels like an abyss right now.” With this new album, she wants to create a place where people can feel safe to be themselves, and to unite in their diversity. “Abyss is like a call to action,” she says. “To come and figure it out together.”

The thrashing, driving, lead single and album opener, “Hearsay,” hones in on the extreme divisions between the left and right in contemporary society. Anika sings: “And yesterday’s papers they line my bird cage. / And you’re telling me tales to get your own way. / And you’re making up stories to push your narrative./ And you’re making up tales to be provocative.” In Anika’s words, “This song is about media moguls – about the power of the media, whether social, tv or beyond – we are as much under its spell as we ever were and some nasties are exploiting it for their own gains. Parasites feeding off the blood of the public — PJ Harvey inspired for sure.”

Laura Martinova who directed the accompanying video says it’s “inspired by vampire aesthetics and seeks to connect with the grungy essence of Abyss. We aimed to create a dark yet dynamic and surprising video. My collaboration with contemporary dancers and the use of raw camera movement transcends this imagery, while Zeynep Schilling’s creative direction elevates the video to another level—somewhere between evil and heaven. We worked with stylist Danny Muster and emerging designers to craft a timeless aesthetic.”

Watch the video for “Hearsay”

Abyss was recorded live to tape at the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin (where the likes of Depeche Mode and David Bowie also recorded) in just a few days. Recording live and with minimal overdubs was an important decision, Anika stresses, in order to capture the raw immediacy of the album. As before, she wrote the songs herself before fleshing them out with Martin Thulin (Exploded View), and then assembled a live band to join the pair in the studio – comprising of Andrea Belfi on drums, Tomas Nochteff on bass (Mueran Humanos) and Lawrence Goodwin (The Pleasure Majenta) on guitar, with studio engineering done by Nanni Johansson and Frida Claeson Johansson. “I always work with people I respect and admire,” Anika says. “It’s very genuine in that way.”

Anika consciously sought to make an album that was inherently physical— one that would take the listener out of their head and back into their body. The physicality of Abyss is emphasized by the androgynous bodies on the album’s cover, that are from a drawing by a teenage friend of Anika’s. This feels especially poignant, as teenage angst also plays a part in the album. “These days it feels like you have to have very catered opinions – like language has gone out the window,” Anika says. “It makes you feel very much like a restricted child again.” With Abyss, Anika was determined to break free from holding back genuine emotions – even if they might seem uncomfortable or too much: “It’s like I’m doing all the things that I never allowed myself to do,” she says. Anika hopes this pure emotion will position the listener to fully immerse themselves in the album. “There needs to be room for people to put themselves in this album, and put their own narratives on it,” she says. “This is a space for you.”

Pre-order Abyss

Anika Tour Dates:
Sun. Apr. 20 – Berlin, DE @ Volksbühne
Thu. Apr. 24 – Cologne, DE @ C/O Pop
Fri. Apr. 25 – Tourcoing, FR @ Le Grand Mix
Sun. Apr. 27 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique
Mon. Apr. 28 – London, UK @ Omeara
Tue. Apr. 29 – Bristol, UK @ Strange Brew
Wed. Apr. 30 – Manchester, UK @ YES (Pink Room)
Thu. May 1 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Fri. May 2 – Belfast, UK @ Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival
Sat. May 3 – Dublin, IE @ Whelans
Mon. May 5 – Brighton, UK @ DUST
Tue. May 6 – Paris, FR @ Gonzai Night @ Petit Bain
Wed. May 7 – Strasbourg, FR @ La Grenze
Thu. May 8 – Düdingen, CH @ Bad Bonn
Fri. May 9 – Zürich, CH @ Bogen F
Sat. May 10 – Frankfurt, DE @ Mousonturm

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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Desire brings you to the dance floor with her new single – “The Judge.”

Desire announces new album Games People Play, an eclectic labyrinth of love, power, & deception where every move counts, out March 21st via Italians Do It Better and today is sharing new single “The Judge” alongside a video directed by Kirill Nong.

Games People Play unfolds like a game of chess—Desire as the queen, fate as the dealer, & love as the ultimate wager. Set against Johnny Jewel’s signature cinematic curtain, the record guides players through a shadowy dance floor where strategy & surrender blur. In this world of passion, the line between predator & prey is razor-thin, & every lover is a contender on heartbreak’s edge. Checkmate is inevitable—but who will make the final move?

“In the age of omnipresent surveillance…Machines track our every move while friends stalk our every groove. Take matters into your own hands…be the judge & jury of your own timeline. Life is too short, so forget the lurkers & love the jerkers. Time is running out & court is now adjourned.” – Desire on “The Judge”

“The Judge” on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8n0rBUEejE

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[Thanks to Frankie at Stereo Sanctity.]

Kinlaw takes a “Hard Cut” out of you on her new single.

Kinlaw is an artist. She’s an opera singer, she’s a choreograhper. She’s a performance artist, she’s a student of psychoacoustics and neuropsychology. She’s not a dancerwho happens to make music. She’s not a composer who happens to have a movement practice. All of her work is connected, completely symbiotic, ruthlessly in conversation with itself, focused on community. She’s been living and working in New York City for over ten years, popping up as a member of several notable musical projects, while earning commissions from institutions like the MoMa Ps1, Pioneer Works, and the New Museum, and working on performance pieces scored by SOPHIE, Caroline Polachek and Dev Hynes among others.

In 2021 she released her first album under the Kinlaw name, an album called The Tipping Scale, which earned comparisons to Jenny Hval, FKA twigs, and Cate le Bon from Pitchfork, and 4 years later she is returning to announce her sophomore LP gut ccheck, which will be released on 3/21 on Bayonet Records. To announce the record she is sharing its first single “Hard Cut” along with its accompanying video.

Kinlaw says of the track:

“The song is about conditions and extremes. It’s about being fed up. Ultimately, it’s a song that’s about aggressively choosing yourself and offering that permission to the listener.”

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[Thanks to Tom at Terrorbird Media.]

Molto Ohm releases “Sponsored #1” from his upcoming album, “FEED.”

Matteo Liberatore, an artist and composer who has become a fixture in New York City’s experimental and intermedia art scenes over the last decade, today announces the debut album from his audio-visual electronic music alias Molto Ohm. After introducing the project with live performances at DIY spaces, art venues, and music clubs—often collaborating in duos with artists like Taja Cheek (L’Rain), More Eaze, and Ka Baird—Liberatore is set to release FEED on March 21 via New Focus Recordings.

On the work, Molto Ohm presents his thesis: “FEED aims to capture the fragmentation and alienation of modern life, an exploration of ambition, consumerism, purpose, intimacy, and self-awareness, juxtaposed with a longing for calm, joy, and human connection.”

Alongside the album announcement, Liberatore is sharing the project’s first-ever released track, “Sponsored #1,”which serves as a captivating entry point into Molto Ohm’s idiosyncratic and concept-driven world. The lead single delves into the commodification of self-care, where the quest for mental well-being is shaped by algorithms and consumer-driven promises of a better you. Beginning as a blissful electronic track overlaid with a voice that sounds dialed in from a meditation or self-help app, the track shifts into uncanny territory, magnified by Liberatore’s video, which splices together footage of faux advertisements for a dentist along with shots of smiling individuals and an unsettling last 20 seconds.

In FEED, Molto Ohm urges us to confront how capitalism’s relentless drive to commodify everything has left many subjugated by the promises of an unattainable life. Advertising, consumer technology, and the culture of self-optimization dangle visions of happiness, peace, and prosperity. Deep down, we know that these promises are often hollow, designed to sustain an economy where alienation and dissatisfaction drive consumption. Yet, the pull remains powerful, leaving many feeling estranged from themselves and their world.

FEED examines the battles between material comfort and bodily alienation; ecstasy and ennui; engagement and weariness by recontextualizing familiar signifiers: heavy dance beats, glitchy effects, connection static, motivational speeches, sales pitches, podcast-like confessions, and (faux) ads. The sonics span EDM and abstraction; snippets of yearning songs flash by, and dissonance interrupts lulls. Commanding synths shimmer and stab, while wavy melodies offset the tension. Wistfulness is ever-present, Liberatore conveying that something is being lost. The music looking to a new paradigm.

As an immigrant that moved to New York from a small village in central Italy, Liberatore experienced the cultural shift of transitioning from a stereotypically quiet and idyllic place to the world capital of art and capitalism. After more than a decade in New York and the absorption in the experimental music world (with albums and countless collaborations with Mark Kelley, Elliott Sharp, Taja Cheek, Gold Dime, Amirtha Kidambi, Ava Mendoza, Brian Chase and many more), Liberatore felt the urge to come to terms with his hybrid existence, reconnect to his lost teenage years overseas, the love of Italian pop music, 90s Eurodance nostalgia, small manual cars, the waveless Adriatic sea, and to make sense of this constant feeling of unrest and race towards an elusive, imagined destination.

Liberatore anchors FEED’s production in a loud, contemporary style that marries hyperpop energy and festival friendliness, complicating it with atonal timbres, environmental sounds, and human voices. The music morphs and shifts. The quiet moments are brief and artificial; soulful warmth flickers; noise bursts through, disrupting the transmission. Maybe we can still push back against the corporate machine and retain a hint of autonomy, imperfection, and organic beauty. The inclusion of a Mark Fisher quote in track nine, “After All (Mark)” is fitting. “After all, what could be more shattering, unassimilable, and incomprehensible, in our hyper stressed, constantly disappointing and overstimulated lives, than the sensation of calm joy.” Like the critic-turned-theorist, Liberatore confronts shattering and incomprehensible dread in our overstimulated lives, where even “calm joy” has been heavily commodified and sold to the willing bidder, leaving no escape for the soul.

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[Thanks to Cody at Terrorbird Media.]

Four Seconds Ago releases “Bump the Lamp” from upcoming album due February 21, 2025.

Four Seconds Ago, the electronic duo featuring Periphery’s Jake Bowen and Misha Mansoor, return with 1000 Needles (February 21, 3DOT Recordings), a continued exploration of analog synths, spacey dynamics and otherworldly ambient melodies.

“Four Seconds Ago, aside from being a fulfilling outlet creatively, is also just a lot of fun,” Mansoor shares. “Jake and I have always had a blast writing together, and our explorations in electronic music are no exception. The sessions often feel like a good hang where songs magically materialize before our very eyes. To some degree we started Four Seconds Ago as an excuse to learn how to make this kind of music. Now I think we are able to use it as a genuine form of expression. We are very proud of this album, and we really hope you enjoy it.”

A preview of the album is available now with today’s release of a two-song digital single featuring “Bump The Lamp” and “Muse” (listen here).

“When we started ‘Bump The Lamp,’ we got momentum,” Bowen explains. “Every album needs a song to set the pace, determine the vibe, and kickstart the writing, ‘Bump The Lamp’ was this song for us.”

Album pre-orders, which include limited-edition vinyl and a 1000 Needles t-shirt, are available now: https://go.mhe.fm/FSA_1000needles.

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[Thanks to Monica at Speakeasy PR.]

Review: Ben Lukas Boysen – Alta Ripa

Ben Lukas Boysen decided to change things up a bit on his new album, Alta Ripa. He wanted to reconnect with the countryside of his youth, but also embrace Berlin-inspired dance music. So, he combined ambient electro with EDM as well as jazz and classical sounds his father often played for him as a kid. He took those elements and grew an album more than he designed it.

“Ours” starts with soft synths that evoke images of birds gliding over meadows and then landing atop the Tyrell Corporation’s replicant factory as the electro-beats drop. The choppy synths of “Mass” remind me of a string quartet playing fast, low-end notes, and then the bass drop adds an interesting sense of danger to the whole thing.

“Quasar” builds to what you think is going to be a good-sized bass drop, but instead takes the mellow approach and keeps the song soothing. The title track is even more hypnotic and will be a great addition to your mediation playlist.

The bumping bass of “Nox” makes you want to put on dark sunglasses and matching trenchcoat and then find the nearest goth dance club. “Vineta” is synthwave bliss suitable for floating in a zero-gravity pool of saltwater. “Fama” pulses and snaps like a grumpy robot doing a spin bike workout. The album ends with “Mere” – which floats you along a slow river while android birds sing to you and warm winds drift through ancient ruins.

This album will take you to another place, possibly one you’ve been craving for a while.

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[Thanks to George at Terrorbird Media.]

Review: Kiasmos – II

Minimalist techno plus orchestral sounds to create atmospheric dance tracks? Yeah. That sounds good to me, and is what you get on Kiasmos‘ II.

“Grown” immediately levitates you from the floor and puts you in a better mood with its electro-percussion and happy krautrock beats. “Burst” bumps and thumps with little string quartet touches that are outstanding. “Sailed” percolates with energy but doesn’t boil over thanks to the subtle synths in it.

“Laced” sounds like something fellow Icelander Björk wished she had on her last album (happy synths and strings, little jazzy electric piano touches), and now I want a collaboration between her and Kiasmos. “Laced” nicely drifts into “Bound,” which has thicker bass and even more beats.

The mellow jazz piano on “Sworn” matches well with the swaying string quartet sounds that almost take it into New Age stylings. “Spun” keeps up the strings and bumps up the BPM. “Flown” drifts into “Told,” which keeps you moving and will be great for the second leg of your morning run. The lapping water sounds and soft synths on “Dazed” might leave you as such.

The album winds down with “Squared.” It lets the string quartet shine for almost the first minute before the synths build behind them to a slick beat that lasts the rest of the track and reminds you to keep dancing and / or meditating after it’s finished.

It’s a cool instrumental synthwave record that you’ll end up recommending to many.

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Review: Leathers – Ultraviolet

Good heavens, this is gorgeous.

Leathers, otherwise known as Canadian synth / dark wave artist Shannon Hemmett, has delivered Ultraviolet — another lush, excellent record that you’ll want on repeat for every late night drive or goth party you’re throwing.

The title track is full of beautiful synths and Leathers’ sexy / spooky vocals. “Highrise” would fit right in on the soundtrack to every late night sexy Cinemax thriller starring Shannon Tweed as Leathers sings “Isn’t it nice in your high rise? Like the page from a magazine that’s come to life…”

“Punish me for wanting more. I’m the one you can’t ignore,” Leathers sings on “Crash.” She’s right. You can’t ignore her, the thumping synth-bass, or the New Romantic-style guitar solo. “Fascination” isn’t a cover of the Human League tune (although that would be amazing), but it is a sultry song about being immediately intrigued with someone you see perhaps at a dark club or in a futuristic airport lounge. “Day for Night” is a lovely ballad and a nice mid-point to the album.

The breathy, sexy “Divine” follows it. It’s a bumping track that doesn’t go too heavy, but does get you in the mood (“I’ll give you a taste of the divine.”). “Phantom Heart” will get you both in the mood and to the dance floor. “Daydream Trash” could be a rediscovered New Wave track from 1986. Leathers nails the sound and feel of that era on it and on “Runaway,” which opens with her saying, “Let’s run away.” and you looking for airfare to Vancouver and tickets for two beyond that.

The album ends with the haunting “Mary,” which seems to be a song about a friend (?) of Leathers (“Mary was a girl I knew.”) who finds love despite not wanting it, and then running from it for fear it will hurt her again (“I got what I wanted. Now I’m running out.”).

This is the kind of record that will make you wonder why more people haven’t heard it, but it’s also nice to think of it as a sexy secret you have with some special people.

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Top 25 albums of 2024: #s 20 – 16

Here we are at my top 20 albums of 2024. That was fast! Let’s get to it!

#20: Curses – Next Wave Acid Punx Deux – Secret Cuts

This collection by Curses is a great one of rare goth, darkwave, and synthwave cuts that makes you wonder where these bands have been all your life.

#19: Punchlove – Channels

The wall of sound on this shoegaze record from Punchlove is at times deafening and other times soothing. They’re one of my top picks to be one of the Next Big Things.

#18: Paperkraft – Not C but K

Here’s some groovy house music for you from Japan. This EP was a great debut.

#17: Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol – Big Dumb Riffs

“What if we made an album that was all big, dumb riffs?” Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol asked. Well, they did it, and it’s a lot of big, dumb, riffing fun.

#16: Dion Lunadon – Memory Burn

It’s another scorcher from Dion Lunadon as he packs more energy into this EP than many double albums you’ve heard.

Who’s in the top 15? Come back tomorrow to learn!

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Top 25 albums of 2024: #’s 25 – 21

It’s a new year, so that means it’s time to look back at my top picks of 2024. Let’s get started.

#25: Tropical Sludge – Astral Mind

This album by Rick Burke, the guitarist of Comacozer, is a psychedelic trip loaded with cool riffs and meditative synths that will take you out of the moment and drop you into some kind of spiritual temple that has Orange amps in it.

#24: Temporal Waves (self-titled)

Wait…You’re mixing stunning tabla work with synthwave music? I’m there. I’m there all day long.

#23: Blake Fleming – The Beat Fantastic

This is another wild percussion-driven record that adds synths for psychedelic effect and has so many amazing beats that it’s almost overwhelming.

#22: Goodbye Meteor – We Could Have Been Radiant

This album of French post-rock and psych is a stunning record that came to me almost out of nowhere and immediately caught my attention. The waves of it are both powerful and subtle.

#21: Doug Richards – Project 85 EP

This was a great return for a rave DJ from the 1990s who became a lawyer and then decided to get back into music after the COVID-19 pandemic and ended up dropping a stunning techno EP as a result.

Who makes the top twenty? Come back tomorrow to find out!

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