This summer, many bands I listen to have been hard at work putting out new releases. Here are my thoughts on three new singles by three great artists.
Vandal Moon
Vandal Moon’s newest single, “Heroine Dancer,” came out on June 30. The six-minute track seems handcrafted for the dance floor.
Cover for “Heroine Dancer” by Vandal Moon
With weeping synths, industrial-style percussion and a sensual beat that thrums throughout, “Heroine Dancer” compels the listener to dance themselves.
A simple song about dancing and love, “Heroine Dancer” is something to get lost in.
Active since 2014, Vandal Moon describes themselves as “propagating our sound through the use of synthesizers, guitars, chant, tambourines, drum machines, vodka and psychedelics.”
While I don’t see “Heroine Dancer” as psychedelic or particularly enigmatic, it’s certainly a fun song.
The track certainly stays true to ULTRA SUNN’s signature style. With cold rhythms and echoing vocals, “Broken Monsters” is both danceable and sensual.
Cover for “Broken Monsters” by ULTRA SUNN
A contemporary EBM/coldwave duo from Belgium, ULTRA SUNN spearheaded their career with the release of the single “Night is Mine” in 2019. Since, they’ve released several singles and EPs.
While I won’t say “Broken Monsters” is their best work, as I prefer their second most recent release, “Kill Your Idols,” the track definitely succeeds in capturing the essence of ULTRA SUNN. I hope that as their career progresses, the duo experiment with other musical substyles.
Male Tears
Songs by Male Tears go one of two ways for me. Either I love them instantly, or they become something of an acquired taste.
Self-described as a “California synth duo,” Male Tears started their career in 2021 with their first self-titled album. Since, they’ve made waves in the darkwave scene with their uniquely camp style.
While I like the sweet melancholy of the song’s melody, I find that the vocals straddle a thin line between lo-fi and simply poorly executed.
Cover for “Sad Boy, Paint My Nails” by Male Tears
Songs by Male Tears typically feature stronger vocals. “sad boy, paint my nails” attempts to capture something more plaintive, which I appreciate in essence but find myself struggling to connect to.
While part of me likes the song, I’d probably skip it if it came up on my streaming feed. I anticipate that in the fall, which tends to turn my tastes towards the morose, I’ll have a greater appreciation for this track. However, right now I definitely see it as one of the band’s lesser releases.
It’s a common misconception, especially for those ill-acquainted with alternative music. People like to slap the label “goth” on anything even tangentially dark or edgy, even when it’s far from what goth actually is.
And while I don’t consider myself a purist by any means, nor find myself particularly bothered by the misattribution of “goth” by subcultural outsiders, I do think it’s interesting to explore what separates “goth” from “non goth” in terms of music.
Goth, like many others, is a music-based subculture. While the distinctive stylistics of goths are widely-known — all-black clothing, dramatic eye makeup, back-combed hair and intricate accessories — the music that inspired these looks is not.
“Goth” actually encompasses multiple genres of music. Several major genres are goth rock, death rock, post-punk and darkwave.
This week, I’ll be focusing on defining darkwave and recommending some excellent darkwave artists.
The Sound
Darkwave music is melancholic and gloomy.
With heavily synth-based sounds and a slow to moderate tempo, darkwave tracks put a depressive spin on the ebullient tones of mainstream new wave while maintaining the high energy of post-punk music.
At the time of its development, “goth” referred exclusively to the realm of gothic rock. While contemporary circles generally accept darkwave as “goth,” the subculture of the 80s necessitated a distinction.
Cover for “A Kiss in the Dreamhouse” by Siouxsie and the Banshees
As darkwave spread across the globe, it disseminated into various substyles such as ethereal wave, neoclassical darkwave and dark cabaret.
In the 90s, a second wave of darkwave artists emerged.
Artists from this period include Corpus Delicti, Lycia, Black Tape for a Blue Girl and The Frozen Autumn. Some of these bands drew inspiration from the otherworldly style of Cocteau Twins while others delved further into cultivating cold, deeply atmospheric sensations.
In the 2010s, bands like Drab Majesty, Boy Harsher, Void Vision and Kontravoid spearheaded another darkwave revival, building their respective sounds around the many substyles living under the darkwave umbrella.
Max Gowan is a North Carolina based artist who has released six solo albums. He has also worked behind the scenes filling a multitude of roles in the music production process for other artists.
This collaborative process has become a large part of his musical work. He has been credited on albums by groups and artists including fuvk, Infinity Crush, Laptop Funeral, and computer science. More about his work in Mixing, Mastering and Audio editing can be found on his website.
Solo Work and Production Attitudes
The best parts of Gowan’s recorded music would arguably be its unique atmosphere and sonic nuance. These qualities are a product of the artist’s attention towards each track in the arrangement/recording process.
In an interview with Max Gowan for the WKNC 88.1 FM podcast “Off the Record”, the artist explained,
“Technically I guess you could call my music singer songwriter, but it’s very focused on instrumentals. I am big into riffs if you will.”
This focus on creating interesting instrumentals is not just limited to the guitar. Rather, it is omnipresent in his recorded music. One of my favorite examples of his intriguing instrumentals would be the percussion on his track “Bad Breeze” off his 2017 album Far Corners.
The percussion consists mostly of a single looping sample that seems to be a recording of a single flexible object smacking against a surface.
The combination of the sound’s unique timbre, omnipresence and rhythm is uniquely alluring and strangely calming. During the song’s choruses, additional layers of percussion are added to create nuance in an otherwise consistent atmosphere created by the looping sample.
The unusual sound persists throughout the entire track until the fade out of the song begins.
Gowan’s focus on instrumentals has led to the creation of recorded music that is interesting and complex while remaining pleasing to the ear.
