Coldwave duo Lebanon Hanover has just put out an absolutely frigid new single.
“Abracadabra” is a melange of genre-typical disaffection, gyrating sensuality and the occult. With Larissa Iceglass on vocals and minimalist synth and drum machine instrumentals, the track lumbers like an ice-cold corpse.
Iceglass sighs doleful, barely intelligible lyrics with the detatched affectation characteristic of the coldwave genre, the repeated word “abracadabra” wispered between hardly-parted lips.
Despite the song’s stripped-down quality, the lyrics are starkly carnal.
I feel the magic in your caress
Lebanon Hanover, “Abracadabra”
I feel the magic when I touch your dress
Silk and satin, leather and lace
Black panties with an angel’s face
For a band whose songs typically center around the romanticism of death and decomposition (“Kiss Me Until My Lips Come Off” and “Gallowdance” come to mind), “Abracadabra” is surprisingly restrained. The song’s theme is plain: a woman so alluring she leaves the speaker spellbound.
The complexity lies in the song’s trancelike beats and dark, moody atmosphere. A pulsing drum machine adds a borderline industrial quality reminiscent of old Depeche Mode tracks while vaporous synths create the auditory illusion of cool fog.
It’s an essential track for those at the goth club who like to sway their arms and gyrate.
-J
