Browsing Tag

Dark Electro Pop

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

Lana Oniel reached the pinnacle of cerebral electro-pop with her darkly ensnaring sophomore single, hypothalamus

Posted on 14 November 2023

After finding her fire in the City of Angels, Lana Oniel put the devil on her shoulder to release her darkly ensnaring sophomore single, hypothalamus, which reaches the pinnacle of cerebral electro-pop.

The moodily spectral release seductively defies the pop mould with a vocal delivery which finds a way to stylise histrionic eccentricity and a beat that consistently switches, never allowing you to feel complacent in the aesthetic. hypothalamus wasn’t orchestrated to entice you into comfort; Oniel efficaciously used her early years in musical theatre to confront her rapidly growing audience with an earworm which makes no bones about using its claws to sink into your synapses.

If you can imagine meeting Lady Gaga in a dark and nefarious dream soundtracked by Melleefresh and Chelsea Wolfe, you’ll get an idea of what awaits when you delve into this perfect follow-up to Oniel’s debut, Hard Just to Be.

Hypothalamus was officially released on November 2nd. Stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Xther opened Pandora’s Box with the bloodlust in his experimental debut EP, A Disaster at Last

Posted on 8 November 2023

Pandora’s Box opened when Xther unveiled his seductively macabre standout single, Delicacy, taken from his debut release, which came in the form of his inaugural EP, A Disaster at the Least.

With bloodlust in place of the banality of lust, Xther, envisioned by the inventive Davin Casey, created the ultimate protest to the cultural quietude of Southwest Missouri; Davin’s musical metamorphosis stands as a vivid declaration of artistic tenacity and fervour.

After the stabbing piano keys tease a pop ballad, the throbbing synth lines send ravines of reverberance through the synthesis of dark electronic pop progressions and alt-rock manifestations of visceralism. If Deftones make you horny, I don’t even want to know what delicacy will do to you. The sultrily dark magnetism of She Wants Revenge creating friction against the future-ready production which highlights the dust on IAMX hits is a potent aural cocktail which will intoxicate you to Xther’s sonic reawakening which follows the dissolution of Davin Casey’s former hard-rock project, Story of a Ghost.

Stream Delicacy with the A Disaster at the Least EP via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Tokyo’s Sumi has made her dark electronic debut with the hooky anxiety exposition, Closing In

Posted on 10 November 2022

Tokyo-based singer-songwriter Sumi made a strong debut with her dark electro-pop single, Closing in. By utilising metaphors that expose the most insidious aspects of anxiety in the imaginatively amalgamated soundscape that blends her sonic roots into the contemporary moody pop trends, Sumi became one of the most promisingly individual artists on the airwaves.

The emotions in Closing In may be intimately inspired, but in 2022, Sumi is speaking for the masses as we battle with the sharp claws of imposter syndrome and the claustrophobia of reality closing in, leaving our dreams in the rubble of the cortisol spikes.

Before making her solo debut, during her stint in LA, Sumi played with several bands and collaborated with artists and producers to create songs on network shows such as Naked and Afraid, Teen Titans Go and the Ellen Degeneres Show. We can’t wait to see how far her solo career takes her.

Closing In was officially released on September 21st and is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dark pop royalty, HVIRESS, cordially invite you to bite into their latest baroque single, Golden Apple

Posted on 19 February 2022

With the baroquely orchestral strings against the cinematically dark electro elements and HVIRESS bringing just as much alchemy to the mix vocally with their gothy occultist harmonies, Golden Apple is a bewitching triumph of a single from the dark pop duo.

If Emilie Autumn broke out of her Victorian anachronistic bubble and entered the realm of demure pop, the results would be equally as indulgent as the darkly imaginative single that also plays with tribal and apocalyptic themes.

You can watch the equally as artistic and obscure Lolita-style music video that premiered on February 11th for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

ADT proves that ‘The Truth’ doesn’t have to be uncomfortable with his latest moody electro pop hit

Posted on 1 January 2021

Dark, brooding electronica with a serious hip hop influence, all speeding beats, thumping piano chords, and layered, effected vocals, ‘The Truth’ from ADT is bass-heavy electronic pop with a menacing undertone; if Dre and Eminem had produced Avicii, it might sound something like ADT on ‘The Truth’.

There’s an obvious Marshall Mathers quality to the vocal here, mixed up with a very techno 140 BPM drum pattern and rising instrumental section. It’s a proper, classy dancefloor anthem with a catchy chorus and a kick to the drop, atmospheric and immediately comfortable at the same time.

Check out ADT’s ‘The Truth’ on Spotify, and follow on Facebook.

Review by Alex Holmes