Hey, remember when the goth and goth-adjace Internet was all abuzz a couple of months back about the apparent fracturing of the creative partnership of Robert Smith and Simon Gallup? If so, you might also remember that at that time the hosts of a certain podcast advised everyone to head to the Winchester, have a pint, and wait for this all to blow over. And sure enough, Simon’s officially back in the fold. The Internet might move at the speed of rumour, but there’s a valuable lesson here in taking a cue from your local long-in-the tooth fossilgoths; they’ve weathered enough band drama to inspire a dozen Suspiria LPs, know where the bodies are buried, and know when not to write a eulogy. Let’s get on with this week’s tracks.
Alizeh Winter
Alizeh Winter, “Sister Cities”
Vore Aurora frontwoman Alizeh Winter’s first solo outing is an absolute stunner, make no mistake. In contrast to VA’s smoky west coast darkwave, “Sister Cities” finds Winter exploring a torchy, half-mourning, half-defiant arrangement of synths, a perfect home for her tremendous vocal charisma and heartfelt delivery. The single is out now and features remixes from Rotersand (two of them!) and Man Without Country, but it’s that original mix we’ve had on repeat since this dropped. Gorgeous stuff.
Andi, “Confess”
Friend of the site Andi Harriman takes time away from being a goth, EBM and italo disco scholar and DJ to produce some bangin’ new beat, on the recently announced split with Randolph & Mortimer Torque Force. If you were one of the people who checked out Andi’s tremendous Corpse to Corpus EP from aufnahme + wiedergabe last year you know that she’s a dab hand as a producer on top of her many other talents, with a genuine love for the genre’s she approaches shining through in her work. “Confess” is no different, with those breathy synth pads, a funky FM bassline and cracking snares set to kill. Put this one on your BC wishlist now, or just go ahead and preorder it.
Mind | Matter, “Weakness”
Typographical confusion aside, it’s been a solid couple of years for France’s Théo Ferretti and his dark electro-influenced industrial techno project Mind | Matter. With a couple of EPs on Detriti and Intervision under his belt plus a plethora of club-honed mixes for other artists, Ferretti’s on a hot streak and doesn’t look to be letting up. New tape Staring At The Void starts off by mixing some breaky cyberpunk flavour into the chilling mix of pads and kicks we’ve come to expect from the project.
Blind Delon, “Pagan War”
Speaking of France, IV Horsemen and Blind Delon aren’t acts we’d normally connect via anything other than their shared French nationality; the latter’s quirky, post-punk influenced approach to synthpunk would seem to be at odds with the strident style of industrial techno plied by the former. But the forthcoming Liftoff split 12″ finds Blind Delon shifting closer to IV Horsemen, albeit with some strained and spastic anxiety which is only barely brought to bear on the steady, repetitive beat of this track.
TSTI, “Always”
Schenectady synthpop act TSTI cracked the Black Celebration code back on their 2017 album Endings for Basic Unit Productions. Now four years later they’re back with a new jam just as moody and toe-tapping as any they’ve recorded to date, and we’re feeling it. Part of the appeal of “Always” is the slow roll of the arrangement, with minimal synth and drumwork slowly building up and S. Smith’s vocals kept right up in front until the song reaches full boil.
The Misery Coven, “Bewitched”
One-man Austin act The Misery Coven take a far more laid-back approach to deathrock than we’re accustomed to. No anguished screams here, just an easy and almost bluesy approach to speedy dark punk numbers. Doesn’t mean that there aren’t some sharp and immediate hooks on the project’s new three track EP, like this one.
