Browsing Tag

Kraftwerk

Laptop Singers captured the quintessence of Swedish Pop with ‘Scandinavian Home’

Posted on 4 September 2024

Laptop Singers synthesised the rhythmically hooked quintessence of Swedish Pop into their latest album, The Battle for the Future of Pop. If the soul-scintillating track, Scandinavian Home, is anything to go by, the battle has already been won and Laptop Singers are sitting pretty at the helm of the genre.

By fusing the perpetually stylistic sonic signature of Kraftwerk and the chilly chromatics of Covenant into a perennial dance-pop earworm with post-punk-esque guitars, a pulse-pounding beat and vocals that make you want to melt through the flawlessly pitched seraphic harmonies, Laptop Singers carved out one of the most affecting pop anthems of 2024 with Scandinavian Home.

There’s absolutely nothing guilty about this funk and groove-slicked in all the right places from the Swedish brother duo, Per and Lars Andersson; it’s edgy enough to be a hit in the indie and alt-scene while giving mainstream pop fans all the dance-worthy euphony they could possibly ask for.

Scandinavian Home is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spirits of Saturn – Transfigured: A Synth-Pop Remedy for Souls Unbounded by Earth’s Orbit

Posted on 1 March 2024

Spirits of Saturn, a band that emerged like a comet in the musical cosmos, has graced our auditory senses with their latest single, Transfigured. The synth-pop odyssey that transcends the mundane unravels as a vibrant fusion of synth and strings, weaving a star-roving tapestry of influence from Kraftwerk, Todd Rundgren, and Daft Punk to submerge synth-pop fans in a constellation of future-perfect disco-pop sonics and vocals that can croon your soul out of kilter.

The beat-bolstered synth-pop ballad explores the mental labyrinth navigated during post-relationship dissolution; It’s a narrative of emotional metamorphosis, where even the most visceral feelings disintegrate through transmutation. The song’s structure, with its stabbing synth lines and euphoric beats, creates an atmosphere that will bring you down to earth and beyond its atmospheric remit. As Transfigured plays, you can’t help but feel unshackled from earthly constraints while simultaneously being in tune with the ache only humankind will know through our romantically masochistic tendencies.

If any outfit has what it takes to dominate the synth-pop scene in 2024, we’d put our money on Spirits of Saturn. They’ve already graced some of the most renowned venues in the UK with their decadently transcendent tones and proven their neon songwriting stripes.

Transfigured will land in Earth’s orbit on March 1st; stream the single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Transcend to a new distorted dimension with the post-rock instrumentals in Bundle of His’ latest single, Patches

Posted on 7 February 2023
Úr Ur by Bundle Of His

If Grandaddy dialled the polyphonic distortion and fuzz up to 11, their sweet synthy melodies would be as infectiously muddy as the electro post-rock tones in the latest single, Patches, from the artist and producer, Bundle of His.

With a touch of Kraftwerk melded into his intrinsically authentic instrumental hits, the Outer Hebrides-based artist pushes the envelope beyond the limits most dare to, and his instrumental lo-fi tracks are all the more alluring for it.

After an illness got in the way of the artist playing bass in various bands in Glasgow and the Outer Hebrides, it is safe to say Bundle of His didn’t fail to bring his bass-driven ingenuity to life as a producer.

Patches was officially released on January 1st. It is now available to stream and purchase via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Manchester’s most ethereal synth-folk artist, Test Card Girl, is transcendent in her latest single, Fly

Posted on 2 March 2022

From the definitive home of UK indie, the Manchester-based synth-folk artist, Test Card Girl, is here with their intricately alternative Kraftwerk-inspired single, Fly.

Her choral folk vocals float into the slightly Avant-Garde, endlessly ethereal electronica progressions as the lyrics navigate the stir craziness that lockdown stirred inside all of us. In their own words, “It is a rallying cry to stand up and walk to nowhere”, inspired in part by the colliery bands in British mining towns.

With Seadna McPhail (Airtight Studios) on production and the I am Kloot drummer, Andy Hargreaves, responsible for production, this Arts Council-funded single was worth every penny. There really is no understating how much its gentle gravitas cuts straight to the core of frustration while exploring art in the context of desolation.

Fly, the second single from Test Card Girl’s debut EP, was released on February 25th. You can hear it for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud, Spotify and Bandcamp.

Keep up to date with new releases from Test Card Girl by following on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Swedish pop pioneers Laptop Singers have launched their latest single, ‘The Lonely One’.

Posted on 4 July 2021

Swedish pop pioneers Laptop Singers have launched their latest interstellar electropop hit, The Lonely One. Fans of Kraftwerk, Eno and Numan are going to want to delve into the synth-carved playful single that explores isolation in a compassionately sweet way. Hitting play is a sure-fire way to top up your serotonin.

With a sticky-sweet mix of synthesised pop, rock and electronica, the familial duo, Per Andersson and Lars Andersson, constructed a delectable smorgasbord for the tonal palette. Yet, discernibly, they came into their own through their meaningful lyrics that instil event more infectious appeal into The Lonely One instead of abstracting the euphorically-laced catharsis.

The Lonely One is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Unite in Solitude with Icecolddiamond’s Emotionally Blistering Cold Wave Track “Shattered”

Posted on 2 October 2020

Barcelona-based Electronica artist and producer Icecolddiamond released their intensely emotive latest single “Shattered” on September 18th. We’re not crying, you are.

The darkly atmospheric release offers lush reverb for you to swim in during the intro, but once the momentum starts to build in the darkly mesmeric mix, it’s compelling enough to make you throw away any inhibitions you had when you hit play. Even if it doesn’t catch you on the dancefloor. Therein lies the true beauty of Shattered, the track was written at the start of lockdown in complete isolation while Icecolddiamon was detached from reality. Their emotion fell into the soundscape undilutedly to make Shattered the ultimate club mix when there are no clubs, just solitude. Okay, we are crying.

You can check out Icecolddiamond’s track Shattered for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mysterious ‘Ortaka’ simmers the pot with moody & masterful Electronic ‘’Last City Of England’’

Posted on 31 May 2020
https://soundcloud.com/ortaka/last-city-of-england/s-kLoLr67GRWt?in=ortaka/sets/tinku/s-ZaGfJBuEOtX

Love the leader, love the leader. Buckets of blood. You get the idea. This is a moody masterpiece really, with it’s dark undertones and badass beat. I feel like I’m in a video game, somehow trapped but finding ways out. This music is so trippy but I like it.

‘’Last City Of England’’ is the lead single off the new 2nd album by Ortaka, continuing to explore an eclectic range of influences and techniques, songs and instrumentals. He describes his music as Indie Rock/ Electronic and I feel like it should be called Ortaka music. 

This is really fascinating music and the full album is set for release on 29th May 2020. Instrumentals, drum and bass to noise rock influences are a plenty here. I would love to jam out with good friends like my buddy Dan to this as he’s such a huge drum & bass fan. 

I like the ruggedness of the ‘Orteka’ creations and I can’t quite work it all out. Perhaps that is the point, you aren’t supposed to. Just enjoy it and listen at a very high volume. 

This is an artist not to be ignored so click here on the SoundCloud link and be amazed.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Harbor Gents – Twisted: Funk-Fuelled Alt Synth Pop

Posted on 14 May 2020

There are very few breaking Pop artists who can match the instantly magnetic ingenuity in Harbor Gents’ latest single Twisted.

Through soul-spilling lyrics, evocatively resonant vocals and the layers of Funk, Hip Hop, and Avant-Garde added to the Synth lines, you’ve never quite heard a Pop track like Twisted before.

Despite the striking distinction which drips from Twisted, Harbor Gents ensured that the accessibility wasn’t diminished, the deftly crafted melodies will stick to your synapses like superglue.

Any fans of Gary Numan, Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode will undoubtedly want to give this perennial Pop earworm plenty of attention. The Latvian artist is definitely one to watch. It isn’t every day that we discover an artist who creates a brand-new trajectory in the evolution of Pop.

You can check out Harbor Gents’ single Twisted for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Machinic Demiurge’s Dark Release ‘Mechanically Separated Human’

Posted on 16 September 2017

If there is one thing which connects the various reference points that Machinic Demiurge it is a dark, agitated claustrophobic vibe that comes from its hushed menace and hypnotic backbeats. It employs fractious industrial splinters, gothic otherworldliness, strange skittering dance beats and enigmatic bass riffs to create a Bauhaus-esque, horror movie soundtrack for a new generation.

Oddly for all its sharp, jagged edges and sense of impending doom, Mechanically Separated Human is strangely elegant in its oddness, after all you don’t have to understand beauty to appreciate it and to a legion of Goths, anarcho-punks, darkwave dancers and other denizens of the night, this will be one of the most beautiful records they have heard recently. To others it will be strangely enticing and to yet others it will be confounding and challenging and no matter where you stand on the matter you won’t forget it in a hurry.