Tune In     Song History
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Formed in Paris, JE T’AIME released their debut single “The Sound” in the Spring of 2018. Following the enthusiastic public reception of this first recording, the band chose a secluded spot on the coast of Brittany to focus on a more major work. Weeks of sleepless summer nights in the pursuit of new sounds result in the creation of eleven new tracks: the sound a post-punk cold wave hybrid, reminiscent of the great Mancunian Factory era and suffused with hints of the Smiths.
SUIR is a Frankfurt based duo. In a constant interplay of guitars and synthesizers, supported by minimalistic and electronic drumbeats and melancholic lyrics, SUIR produces a reverberated shoegaze and atmospheric, cinematic music defined by dense, multilayered sound walls. This velvety, deep sound moves constantly between Post Punk, dark Shoegaze, synthesizer heavy Dark Wave, and Art Punk but because of their very own sound creations none of this genres can be unambiguously assigned.
Living Temples is Stockholm native Kalle Fagerberg, also known from the French synth wave outfit Liste Noire (Genetic Music – DE) and his previous solo project The Blank VRS (Rainbow Bridge Recordings – USA). Against the Day is the second release from the Berlin-based musician and has been produced by himself and the Norwegian producer Ådne Meisfjord (Tropical Contact High, Serena Maneesh, 120 Days). This will be Living Temples first release on Manic Depression Records. Living Temples is recognized for his synthesizer-drive oeuvre. Influenced by sounds such as SUICIDE, HONOLULU MOUNTAIN DAFFODILS, XIU XIU, DIRTY BEACHES and KINO, notable in his cinematic post punk built of loops, samples, drum machines and random, eclectic electronics. Performed live with sounds from Japanese synthesizers from the 1970s and an old DDR microphone, his music is a part of a new-wave celebration of the alternative breakdown of sound, a merging of old machines and with new synthesis known to have emerged out of the sprawling Berlin music scene. He frequently tours Europe and after releasing the EP “The Pickpocket” in June 2016 he took to the United States and toured along its East Coast, and in January 2018 he made his Australian debut at the Oxford Art Factory in Sydney.
A.D. Mana is a solo artist and producer from the UK, now based in Berlin. He renders skeletal guitar lines, enmeshed in electronics both dense and pristine. Post punk, shoegaze, synth pop, EBM… yes… but not entirely. Beneath the shifting tension of these disparate strains, there is an underlying iridescence to the sound. From a punk and then songwriter background, and having grown frustrated with the tonal limitations of acoustic instruments, A.D. Mana had always been experimenting in electronic production. Through working as a graphic designer at a music software company, he gained access to an array of synths, drum machines and other equipment, as well as the knowledge of how to operate them. However, spending days designing software interfaces and long nights in the East London studio experimenting with gear, eventually began taking it’s toll. After declining health gave him the warning signs something needed to change, A.D. Mana relocated to Melbourne, Australia. He wrote and recorded with various artists there, but had still not defined something that felt like his own work. Relocating again, this time to Berlin, he reconnected with friend and sound engineer, Christian Richardson. Finishing the first eponymous A.D. Mana EP, released on Sentimental Records in 2016. He followed this with the music video for the single ‘Take Hold’, directed by Sally Dige, which took us on a propulsive, paranoid, desaturated Super 8 journey through Berlin. Working with Alex Akers of Forces (Fleisch Records), he has now completed his debut LP ‘First Life’, creating an expansive world racing between celestial freefall and claustrophobic shadow. The record is a bittersweet and sprawling letter to lovers wilfully lost in the onsen of desire, mundanity, heartbreak and hope.
What more can you say about a band called DEAD that hasn’t already been made abundantly clear at first glance? The fact that these French mercenaries of noise can conjure up such a powerfully dark aesthetic before even hitting a note is impressive, but when they finally do, they unleash a far more potent beast entirely. If DEAD aren’t already mapping out the future destruction of the planet, they’ve sure as hell written the soundtrack. Bleak, confrontational, but with a firm command of rhythm and deep grooves, this might be the dancefloor antidote we’ve been waiting for. (Electric Company UK) |
