Browsing Category

Discover New Electronic Music on Our Blog

Carey Clayton rebooted retrofuturism with the seraphic synths in his latest single, Future in a Past Life

Posted on 11 August 2024

Carey Clayton brought the sound, synths and soul of the 80s to their latest in a long line of seminal singles, Future in a Past Life, while etching into the nostalgic hallmarks with his indelibly scintillating sonic signature which scribes beyond contemporary trends.

The title alone is enough to spark a profound meditation on its poetic meaning; when you sink into the release, you’ll start to swim in the temperate, tonally seraphic spectres of reflection, artfully amalgamated by the LA songwriter, producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist, who has become revered for his stylistically expansive body of work.

Future in a Past Life, caged within his third LP, Headless, may be composed of different aural anatomy from his previous releases, but fans who came to adore Clayton for his past work will find their appreciation for the visionary renewed by the sense of spirituality which drifts between the instrumentals in the polished production.

Clearly still humble after his music being sought after by Netflix, NBC, ABC and the Tribeca Film Festival, Clayton synthesised straight from the soul with Future in a Past Life, which fuses the arcane emotive air of Cigarettes After Sex with the kicks and grooves of Django Django.

Future in a Past Life was officially released on July 19th; stream the single on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ry Welch pushed the boundaries of avant-garde production with ‘THE MOMENT OF DISAPPEARANCE’

Posted on 7 August 2024
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1F0fXCfC60P5JJbaXc69s121Ja6WvfCmu

Ry Welch’s seminal single, The Moment of Disappearance, nestled within his recently remastered LP, Hostile Lazarus, could easily be dismissed as an installation of pure augmented obscurity, but if you lean in a little deeper into the fiercely thematic dualistic beauty within the juxtaposition of the euphonic and abrasive elements, the genius of Ry Welch becomes evident.

Accordant elements bleed from synthesised harmonies, echoing the 60s psych-pop bliss of the Beach Boys and the Zombies, while the frenetic insanity allows you to imagine the sonic love child of Fantomas, Glen Branca, and ELO. The cultivated yet chaotically unhinged production supports a narrative epic, inviting listeners on an unmissable saga through the proclivities of an unfiltered erratic mind.

Despite his niche sound, Welch has garnered a loyal following that reveres his uniquely animated sonic signature born from unbounded creative vision. Given the exhilaration in The Moment of Disappearance, it is easy to see why.

Born in Austin, Texas, and later honing his craft in Northern Virginia, Welch initiated himself into the music industry by amassing multi-instrumentalist stripes at the age of five.  His teenage years saw the formation of his first band, laying the groundwork for a career marked by an unyielding dedication to musical innovation.

Welch’s eclectic background includes studying jazz and classical bass at VCU, performing jazz in the DC area, and expanding his horizons at the New England Conservatory, where he engaged with luminaries such as John Cage and Elliott Carter. His versatile career spans from composing jingles in New York City to performing with regional jam bands in Virginia, and now, pushing the boundaries of avant-garde production in Los Angeles.

The 2024 remaster of Hostile Lazarus dropped on July 15 and is available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Get into the groove with Ryan Alexander’s funk-chopped disco pop earworm, Stay the Night

Posted on 31 July 2024

Ryan Alexander’s latest single, Stay the Night, featuring pop vocalist Michael, is more disco than a disco ball with its funk chops which cut through the kinetic grooves to ignite dancefloors and send sparks of serotonin flooding through the psyche of anyone who encounters this synthesis of sonic nostalgia and salaciously amplified contemporary innovation.

The hit mainlines the guitar rhythms of Nile Rodgers with the beats of Daft Punk, while the infectiously euphoric pop vocals from Michael turn up the heat in this magnetic earworm, resulting in a track that showcases the immense potential of this independent producer’s talents.

Although Alexander is currently reverberating through the underground, it is only a matter of time before he breaks major ground and storms the mainstream with his flair for expansively fusionistic songwriting and producing.

Hailing from Glasgow, Ryan Alexander’s passion for music is evident in every beat of his rapidly growing discography, which is picking up major traction through his local performances in October Café and other revered venues around his hometown. There’s no doubt that a big break is around the corner.

Stay the Night was officially released on July 22; stream the single on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Bad Avocado is ripe for the picking for your summer playlists in their house anthem, Aguacate NewsHour Special (All of the Memories)

Posted on 31 July 2024

Feel the pulse of summer’s heartbeat with the latest single, Aguacate NewsHour Special (All of the Memories), by the enigmatically irreplicable artist and producer, Bad Avocado. From the first note, you’re at the mercy of the independent house artist’s grooves and consumed by the confrontation of pure elation, which proves that Bad Avocado is set to defy their nature and remain eternally fresh.

Aguacate NewsHour Special (All of the Memories) is ripe for the picking for your summer playlists. The seraphic soundscape envelops through the rushes of lush reverb that wrap around the echoes of nostalgia, allowing the instrumentals to capture the sense of yearning for ephemeral memories which bleeds from the harmonised ethereal vocal lines.

The tactile sense of sun-kissed bliss reverberates to the forefront of the flawless anthem which attests to Bad Avocado’s songwriting and production chops. As the track crescendos, each moment of escalation is finely tuned, leading to hedonic breaks that burst with intensity. It’s in these moments that the track holds its breath, before plunging into a sonic rapture that’s textured with complexity and clarity.

Aguacate NewsHour Special (All of the Memories) dropped on June 24; stream the track on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Surrender your senses to the spiritual sanctity within Catherine Grace & Mark Dwane’s electronic folk single, Broken Wide Open

Posted on 30 July 2024
Broken Wide Open by Mark Dwane / Catherine Grace

In the spirited soundscape of her childhood home, reverberating with the likes of Johnny Mathis, Fleetwood Mac and Barbra Streisand, Catherine Grace found her calling, which would eventually lead her to her collaborative partner, Mark Dwane. Their relationship, marked by seamless creativity and a deep mutual understanding, has culminated in scores of cultivated-with-soul releases, including their latest titularly poetic single, Broken Wide Open.

The track unfolds at a cathartically measured pace, not rushing to reveal its depths but rather allowing listeners to immerse themselves in its spiritual and soulful melodies. Catherine’s ethereal harmonies, when coupled with Dwane’s electronic folk underpinnings, create a profound sonic synergy that transcends mere musical collaboration. The duo has mastered the art of building a track that ebbs and flows with rhythmic magnetism, weaving together notes that resonate with an arresting affirmation of their unique artistic alchemy.

Amidst personal challenges and life’s unpredictable turns, music has been Catherine’s sanctuary, a theme that resonates powerfully throughout their latest offering. With Broken Wide Open” Catherine Grace and Mark Dwane invite the listener into a shared experience of renewal and revelation. Their collaborative spirit evokes comparisons to the iconic Enya, yet with a distinct identity that firmly roots them in the contemporary indie scene.

As you surrender to the lush, layered textures of Broken Wide Open, you’ll revel in the power of sound to soothe, inspire, and awaken.

Broken Wide Open is now available to stream and purchase on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spyndycyt took synth-pop to visceral new heights with his introspection-fuelled hit, Change Me from the Inside

Posted on 29 July 2024

The electronica avant-gardist, Spyndycyt, has struck again with the release of his sophomore synth-pop single, Change Me from the Inside. If Frank Zappa had lived long enough to experiment with 8-bit-adjacent production, he would have undoubtedly orchestrated something as ludicrously electrifying as this infectiously unhinged anthem, which almost registers as a lament from a painfully self-aware transhuman organism 100 years in the future.

Change Me from the Inside reverberates with all-too-relatable electro-pop insanity, echoing New Order in its kinetic rhythms which pulsate through the chaos stirred by synthesising a raw emotional undercurrent into tides of merciless electronica which shimmer into distortion with every crescendo.

Each beat and melody reflect a different facet of self-discovery and confrontation from an artist who fearlessly never filters his expression to become an advocate of introspective candour and to perfectly encapsulate his message that lifting the veil on your own psyche is never a comfortable process.

The spontaneously materialised lyrics efficaciously testify to how wrestling with your own autonomy will leave you battle scared; the teeth of self-remonstration and loathing will always sink in, yet, chances are you’ll also meet your own indomitable spirit and come out stronger after the encounter.

Change Me From the Inside was officially released on July 21; stream the single on SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

litesleeper unveiled a pulsating prism of euphonic euphoria in their organic electronica release, Hertz

Posted on 26 July 2024

Hertz by litesleeper surpassed sound to become a sophisticated statement that carries the evolution of electronica on its pulsating back. The Northampton-based collective’s objective to arrest rhythmic pulses while simultaneously stirring the soul was efficaciously achieved through their amalgamation of organic instrumentation and powerful basslines.

Vocalist Shannon Kait honed the release with a razor-sharp indietronica edge; her soulfully ethereal and emotionally charged harmonies floating above intricately layered production ensured that Hertz had all the potential to become the definitive sound of the summer.

With a production that’s as lush as it is meticulously arranged, the transcendent quality of the seminal single strikes a perfect balance between bass-fuelled momentum and hypnotic serenity. The seraphically utopic hues are enough to liberate you from the mundanity of material reality.

Keen to orchestrate tracks that resonate with seasoned clubbers and casual electronica fans alike, the only thing that is more monumental than the cross-over appeal of the single is the synaesthesia which will ensnare you from the first tonally rich progression.

Hertz will be available to stream and download on all major platforms from July 26th; stream the single on SoundCloud first.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Urban Café Crew cruised through 80s nostalgia and became sonic heartthrobs in their latest single, Movin’ Down I39

Posted on 24 July 2024

It’s all gas and no brakes in Urban Café Crew’s latest single, ‘Movin’ Down I39’, which exudes a striking blend of 80s Hollywood glamour and heart-throb vocals that make the driving anthem impossible not to groove with.

With the opening sounds of engines revving against strident piano chords that are augmented by Blockbuster nostalgia, you’re instantly susceptible to the lyrics that compel you to seize the moment while the rhythmically magnetic progressions seize your pulses and evoke panoramic images of a guy driving to get the girl. The propulsion of the pulsating beats transcends auditory ingenuity to craft a visual masterpiece that you’ll never get tired of revisiting.

We didn’t need any more evidence of the Australian-based collective’s cultivated songwriting stripes after hearing their Christmas earworm and the eternally endearing single, Hey There Boomer, It’s Not OK. Yet, now that Movin’ Down I39 is here, it only cements their ability to produce hits that sweep you up in their infectiously soulful intensity; it’s the most syncable single I’ve heard this year.

Movin’ Down I39 was officially released on July 17; stream the single on SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

khokkosh. incited an industrial art-pop riot with ‘pelicaning’

Posted on 16 July 2024

Exhibiting the artistic freedom of a mind that knows no creative constraint, the 20-year-old dark electro-pop producer and visual artist khokkosh. used her seminal single, ‘pelicaning’, prised from her sophomore two-track release, ‘pelicaning./a duck, a bear, and I.’ to conjure a macabrely avant-garde aural installation that haunts the middle ground of Poppy and Billie Eilish.

By mainlining the harsh elements of industrial into a hypnotically warped earworm which sonically mimics the effects of a trance spiral, the Indian artist found her place at the vanguard of the art pop revolution.  The self-written, produced, mixed, and mastered computer-adjacent, thematically visceral synthesis of caustic beats and scathing synths explores the self-invented phenomenon of pelicaning; the act of caging words inside you until they are forced to erupt.

With this two-track release feeding into khokkosh.’s merciless agenda of piercing through the veil of inhibition, regardless of how ugly we may appear to others we expose our true unfettered autonomy, the revolutionary isn’t just one to watch, her fearless authenticity makes her an artist to admire and emulate.

Stream the official music video for pelicaning, which premiered on July 8th on YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

From Earth to Utopia: Galactica Tranctica Fearlessly Innovated the Trance Anthem with the Cosmic Unconventionality of ‘Cleopatra’

Posted on 11 July 2024

One of the most fearlessly innovative forces in trance, Galactica Tranctica, has made a name for himself with his eclectically styled and unapologetically unconventional singles and EPs. His eagerly anticipated debut LP, Forgotten Forever, which hit all major streaming platforms in June, etched his legacy.

His intuitive exploration of a cosmos of styles, textures, tones, and emotions prises the listener from material reality into interstellar journeys through utopias of ecstasy. The standout single, Cleopatra, is a progressive tour de force which teems with euphoric energy and filters diverse layers of electronica into a cohesive soundscape of bass-swathed beats, transcendent ethereal motifs, and experimental synths, which showcase an artist unafraid to explore new territories to lead his listeners to the brink of nirvana and beyond.

Influenced by Grimes’ ability to obliterate aural boundaries with sound, Jason Poole, the mastermind behind Galactica Tranctica, follows suit with his intrinsically originated, expansive as a solar system, productions which have earned plaudits from BBC Radio Introducing, Amazing Radio, and Wigwam Radio.

Stream Cleopatra and the Forgotten Forever LP on Apple Music.

Review by Amelia Vandergast