Gothic BC

Soft Vein
Through Blinds
Artoffact Records

The 2023 debut album from Soft Vein was an exercise in miserablism; it had solid songwriting and thoughtful production, but the universally bleak and depressive tone of the affair is what sticks out when recalling Justin Chamberlain’s darkwave debut. New record Through Blinds tweaks the project’s approach towards a more melancholic direction, no less downcast, but avoiding the pitfall of having mood and atmosphere completely overshadow its charms.

Like the debut, Through Blinds weds bleak monochrome textures and mournful vocals to solid rhythm programming and swatches of synth and guitar, with things kept cool and tempered even at higher tempos. Where it largely differs is in how effectively it those elements are kept in balance, with some of the brighter sounds shining a light through its shadowy temperament. Tracks like “Gray Space” let synth bass and drum programming act as a proper foundation, never succumbing to the swells of discordant pads, with brighter leads accenting and adding melodic dimension to the proceedings. Similarly, the arp that runs through “Oblivion” has a warmth to it that acts as a pulsing heartbeat, allowing Chamberlain to underplay his vocals, the song kept minimal in arrangement but intriguingly emotional.

Those traces of light certainly don’t cause the album to approach anything like happiness however; make no mistake this is still a gloomy affair. Even in its most propulsive moments like “Wasting Days” and “Black Bag” keep minor key sadness in focus, anchoring their gated snares and thrumming bass with longing and wistful vocals and cloudy pads. The tension between how tempo-forward the programming is and how generally dejected Chamberlain sounds is a pocket of sorts – when the album dips into more ambiguous rhythmic territory as on closer “Dreaming”, the effect is more striking simply for how infrequently Soft Vein succumb entirely to despair.

With those glimpses of hope that come out through the heartsick fog shining ever brighter for avoiding being snuffed out, Through Blinds becomes almost hopeful in temperament. It’s overcast and often doleful, but allows for the suggestion that better days might still be on the horizon. It could be the fraught moment in time, but that’s a comforting thing for a darkwave record to being in these early days of 2025.

Buy it.

THROUGH BLINDS by SOFT VEIN

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Well hey everyone, we’re already halfway through January this week, which might not seem like much, but given that this is usually a slower time of year for releases, it means we’re rapidly burning through our annual catchup time as we digest that list lingering bits of 2024. Things have started strong in Our Thing with a few choice releases (many of which have been or will be written about here shortly) and album announcements, and as always we’re keen to see what direction the year takes us, and what acts familiar and new will grab our attention. As always if there’s something we’re sleeping on, let us know in the comments below. Tracks ahoy!

Laibach, “I Want to Know What Love Is”
Slovenian industrial OGs Laibach have been a lot of things over the years, but their most memorable schtick has always been the recontextualization of pop and rock songs in their own, gravelly voiced style. In recent years, and thanks in no small part to now longtime collaborators Silence, they’ve gotten very good at making their chosen covers lush and lovely, as is the case with this version of Foreigner’s dad-rock (Dadbach if you will) staple “I Want to Know What Love Is”. One of the Senior Staff’s partners noted some Leonard Cohen-isms in the arrangement and performance, and damn if they weren’t spot on. Lighters up y’all.
I Want To Know What Love Is by Laibach

Kite feat. Nina Persson, “Heartless Places”
Tear-jerking Swedish synthpop faves Kite have been on a productive kick lately; the release of singles EP VII last year on Dais Records and a US tour would have been plenty for low-output-high-quality duo, but all of a sudden we’ve got a brand new single featuring Cardigans vocalist Nina Persson. With the last batch of Kite originals having been more on the low-key heartbreaking vibe, it’s nice to hear something a bit more propulsive if no less evocative. Hopefully it’s not long before their next missive, we like having ’em around.
Heartless Places (feat. Nina Persson) by Kite

Ash Code, “Living For The Sound”
As we head into 2025 with no sign of the ongoing omnipresence of darkwave ebbing, it’s nice to have a strong entry like this from now-veterans Ash Code. They’ve had a great balance of dark guitars and synths on lock from day one, and have been levelling up their songwriting while maintaining fantastic atmospheres, and this cut is no exception. Whether or not this cut which exemplifies those qualities will literally point to the trio’s first LP in a decade or not, we’re happy to be reminded of the band’s enduring power.
Living For The Sound by Ash Code

Obscure Formats, “Basilisk”
The reactivation of Component Records is welcome to those of us who remember the label’s pioneering work in codifying technoid as an intersection of IDM and post-industrial music some twenty years back. But in its new incarnation the label hasn’t stayed pat, and releases like this one from Snowbeasts side project Obscure Formats shows the payoff of the veteran curatorial instincts Rob Galbraith brings to the label and Galbraith’s own productions like this one. Part classic EBM, part current techno, part millennial French electro, there’s a lot of resonance woven into this dead simple, acidic banger.
Cryptid by Obscure Formats

Korine, “Anhedonia”
Just last week on the podcast we were discussing the forthcoming Korine album A Flame in the Dark and wondering what direction it would take the Philadelphia indie-post-punk-synthpop band. If “Anhedonia” is anything to go by, turns out it’s the same bright, hooky pop they’ve been doing for a while, but with some added electronics and lots of shimmery, dreamy production for flavour. Korine have written some of the most damnably catchy songs of the last couple years between their two previous LPs, we’d put money on this new one continuing that trends.
A Flame In The Dark by Korine

Sleep Forever, “Shine A Light”
Speaking of bright pop, we know from previous releases that Markus Weber likes to use his Sleep Forever solo project as an opportunity to dig into bouncy and colourful synthpop which would be out of step with his usual business as part of austere and at times quite harsh darkwave outfit Veil Of Light, and the first taster from the second Sleep Forever full-length only underscores that. Coming across like an early 90s OMD single if Andy and Paul had spent a bit more time in Ibiza rather than Merseyside, “Shine A Light” bodes well for Alter Ego.
Alter Ego by Sleep Forever

The post Tracks: January 13th, 2025 appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Osccurate
Computer Decay
Synthicide
The three original tracks and two remixes offered by Colombian artist Osccurate on recent EP Computer Decay are varied in style and approach, reflecting the wide variety of body music approaches the project has tried on thus far. Most notably unique in this regard is opener “The Witch and the Moon”, which finds room for spidery Flamenco-adjacent guitar melodies between it’s thudding mid-tempo EBM rhythm and swooping filter sweeps, the incongruity between organic and electronic sounds creating a tangible feeling of tension. While the title track (produced in collaboration with Bogotá-based artist Galope Messier) includes only a few fluorishes of six string atmosphere, the sound itself is notable for taking an italo-disco riff and bluting it into a far more sinister form, still bright, but foreboding in the context of the rolling bassline and processed vocals. “Ñalazos” is the most straightforward and driving track on offer, recalling sort of millennial post-electronica sounds of Juno Reactor and Empirion, with a tasty touch of squelchy acid for flavour. Any of those distinct approaches could yield a new pathway for Osccurate, although if the story of the project thus far is any indication, the next release may be just as varied in wholly new ways.
Computer Decay by Osccurate

Give My Remains To Broadway
This Party Sucksself-released
Toronto ne’er-do-wells Give My Remains To Broadway are back on their speedy (in both senses of the word) darkwave kick with new EP This Party Sucks, but as the title points to, their focus has shifted somewhat from the phantasmagoria of early releases like Beyond the Gates of Xouztoth towards more quotidian stressors: bad coke, worse relationships, regret. Croaky vocals point to the band having recorded these six tunes immediately in the aftermath of the titular shindig (“It’s not a pre-game, it’s a pre-World Cup”), but as with their extant material, surprisingly lush atmospheres and solid darkwave harmonies are packed into every corner of tight compositions like “I Know You Could”. At the band’s most approachable, the punkier side of their sound pushes through gloomy excess, with weary tales of being strung out and run down (“Crash Out”) sitting halfway between Terminal Gods and Crocodiles. They’ve shown themselves to be more than capable of juggling the signifiers of recent darkwave, but here they’re beginning to point to a more general approach to dark rock which could find them tapping into new audiences.
This Party Sucks by Give My Remains to Broadway

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We’re jumping into the new year with a podcast previewing forthcoming releases we expect to come in 2025 from a slew of our favourite artists: Encephalon, Spark!, Devours, and more. We’re also talking about the passing of Chemlab’s Dylan Thomas More, news regarding Ghost Twin and Kindest Cuts, and this year’s iteration of Cold Waves. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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