We’re not gonna lie, having a stat holiday yesterday felt pretty good, even coming on the heels of an extra day off last week due to Verboden. We’re not the raging party goblins we might have been during the heyday of 14+ hours of noise sets at Kinetik, and we need a bit more rest and recuperation in our dotage (Douglas Adams was on to something in imagining a planet which had two Sundays). But with that extra day taken care of, let’s get on with this week’s Tracks!

Die Selektion

Beach Blanket Bingo with Die Selektion.

Odonis Odonis feat. ACTORS, “No One Left”
Toronto industrialized noise rockers Odonis Odonis have always had range – one of the best things about their exceptional 2021 release Spectrums was how many styles they touched on, from noisy EBM, to pure machine rock, to smooth darkwave. New collaborative EP ICON promises the same kind of versatility as evidenced by what we’ve heard from it so far, with new track “No One Left” driving the point home: a collaboration with IDUD faves ACTORS that features bandleader Jason Corbett on vocal, the track goes further into dreamy, melody-driven dancefloor post-punk than we’ve yet heard from them. Really can’t wait to hear what happens when you get these cats together with A Place to Bury Strangers, Patriarchy and SUUNS.

Die Selektion, “Ascheregen”
New Die Selektion? By gum, it’s been a while. We haven’t heard from the Stuttgart-based, self-professed “Prosecco Wave” trio since their 2017 Deine Stimme Ist Der Ursprung Jeglicher Gewalt LP and its subsequent remix EP, but the bounce, immediacy, passion (and of course horns) which they’ve had on lock since their emergence in 2011 are all on display in this track. Here’s hoping its a sign of a larger release to come.

Comfort Cure, “Fight and Steal”
Hot on the heels of April’s excellent Not My Taste EP comes the announcement of a new one from one-man Detroit electro-body machine Comfort Cure, this time via the ever reliable DKA Records. The first taste of Design International is a sweet one; we’re big fans of the way that Comfort Cure splits the difference between his homebase’s legacy of minimal but powerful electronics, and EBM muscle, and “Fight and Steal” hits the mark in both regards. Due for release on June 9th, the EP will also feature remixes from Antoni Maiovvi/Ye Gods, Semantix and Brood Faye.

Some Ember, “Touch”
Some grand and romantic drama is offered up here by Berlin’s Some Ember, whose Held a Fragment of the Moon EP drew us in a couple of years ago with a lithe and smooth take on current darkwave. This new single brings brings Dylan Travis’ strengths as both vocalist and arranger to the fore, with the wounded archness of the likes of Bryan Ferry and Billy Mackenzie doing just as much work as the sparkling synths.

A Covenant Of Thorns, “Grace (Like The Back Of A Fist)”
The reactivation of longstanding dark American synthpop project A Covenant Of Thorns has been running strongly for a number of years, with the third in a recent string of LPs from Scott-David Allen due later this week. Allen’s recurring theme of betrayal and deception runs even more heavily than usual on Ashes, with tracks like this one gaining much from the depth and texture added to their funereal synth processions.

Mari Kattman, “Swallow”
Mari Kattman has been a constant presence in our coverage for some years now, both as a guest vocalist extraordinaire with favourites like Comaduster and iVardensphere, as one half of Helix with partner Tom Shear, and more recently for her solo efforts under her own name. Kattman’s strength as a performer has always been her power and versatility as a singer; she’s capable of a wide-range of styles and deliveries, all of which are imbued with her own distinctive personality. Her latest single “Swallow” shows that off in fine fashion, welding a slinky crawling backbeat to a half-sardonic, half-wounded vocal that recalls some of Kanga’s earlier work.