US independent label Dais Records are on a roll with a roster now including acts such as KITE, TR/ST, ADULT. and DRAB MAJESTY; the latest signing is Los Angeles-based multimedia artist Geneva Jacuzzi.
With a detached Eurocentric poise reminiscent of Gina X, her oeuvre includes not just music, but performance art, live theatre, installations, set design, costume, makeup and set decoration. Her full length debut came in 2010 with ‘Lamaze’ which was assembled from various lo-fi recordings and demos made over the years. Featuring the eerie synthpop of ‘Casket’ and the dysfunctional disco lento of ‘Cannibal Babies’, her second more polished long player ‘Technophelia’ followed in 2016.
‘Triple Fire’ is her third full-length album which she has primarily written and produced with the additional input of a cast including Roderick Edens and Andrew Briggs. It is something she has described “as a hit parade of wildcard synthpop and sly post-apocalyptic camp” as well as “the record that’s going to save mankind”. While all these cheeky proclamations are in the name of art, what Geneva Jacuzzi does definitely possess is catchy hooks in her own surrealist world.
With chunky New York disco influences, the opening salvo ‘Laps Of Luxury’ presents propulsive art pop in the sultry vein of Jyl. More detached but revealing some squawky guitar, ‘Art Is Dangerous’ is Geneva Jacuzzi’s joyous celebration of the art community and its potential for cultural subversion.
Produced by Andrew Clinco of coldwave exponents and label mates DRAB MAJESTY, ‘Speed Of Light’ is jagged and more nonchalant vocally while displaying an enigmatic demeanour, ‘Nu2U’ introduces a deep groove. Brilliantly catchy, ‘Dry’ is alluring danceable synthpop but although it goes weirdly discordant halfway through, it works as it highlights the song’s lyrical gist about dating disconnection following being ghosted.
In ‘Scene Ballerina’, there are cascading modular lines and even jazz piano inflections over the strong rhythmic centre while ‘Take It Or Leave It’ provides glorious new wave pop. ‘Keep It Secret’ adds mystery and a chill to an offbeat bounce with a feline touch recalling Eartha Kitt.
With a vintage drum machine backbone and understated vocals sections duelling with a bizarre gothic backdrop, ‘Rock and A Hard Place’ is oddball and fun in the manner of Lene Lovich, before ‘Bow Tie Eater’ gets some electro funk in to provide another flavour.
The playful ‘Heart Full Of Poison’ parties like its 1983 and could be a synthier Cyndi Lauper but then there’s a sax break to authenticate that desired effect. ‘Yo-Yo Boy’ provides a moody conclusion to ‘Triple Fire’ with cascading synths and Geneva Jacuzzi’s vocal both appropriately soothing.
With Geneva Jacuzzi herself saying the album is “Funny, sexy, sad, scary, witty, hopeful, menacing. Eventually it deconstructs, turns into a party, and then ends sweet and soft”, ‘Triple Fire’ is enjoyably quirky in its delightfully odd mix of accessible electronic pop and energetic art chaos.
Since releasing their first EP in 2008, Sweden’s KITE have steadily grown in stature with fans including Vince Clarke.
After six acclaimed numbered EPs, the most recent being ‘VI’ in 2015 and live appearances in Germany, China and North America, the enigmatic pairing of Nicklas Stenemo and Christian Berg were on the cusp of a huge international breakthrough having been “Sweden’s best kept pop secret”.
While the striking Stenemo is a charismatic front man capable of the occasional high kick, the more reserved Berg paints a Rick Wakeman-like figure in charge of his multiple keyboard stacks; the latter comparison is quite apt as the ‘KITE On Ice’ spectacular at Stockholm’s Avicii Arena in February 2025 has already sold out.
However, with their first record label seemingly intent on playing at arrested development with their prize asset (something that other acts on that same label subsequently suffered from) and then a stress related illness afflicting Stenemo in 2017, KITE had to cancel activities and their inevitably career stalled.
After a period of recovery and recuperation, KITE made their triumphant live return in 2019 with a three night residency at Stockholm’s Slaktkyrkan. As momentum was steadily regained, the duo released ‘Tranås/Stenslanda’ in 2020, their first new material since ‘Demon & Shame’ in 2017; another five singles have since followed.
Now after prestigious appearances at the Royal Swedish Opera, the Dalhalla open air amphitheatre and the Amphi Festival, with European + US tour dates arranged for 2024, it is timely that KITE finally release their first full-length studio album on the American independent label Dais Records. As their seventh body of work and following on from the numbered series of EPs, the appropriately titled ‘VII’ contains music from their seven most recent singles released over the past seven years.
Four of the tracks were co-produced with Benjamin John Power, best known as Scared Bones artist BLANCK MASS and a founder member of experimental electronic duo F*CK BUTTONS. Despite being more associated with a much heavier aggressive instrumental sound as exemplified by his own ‘D7-D5’ and ‘Death Drop’, Power appears to have relished pushing a couple of his own pop buttons.
‘VII’ starts with an extended drone intro that may initially confuse listeners, but ‘Remember Me’ is a strident lengthy opening salvo, as if a return to innocence. It documents a battle for hope and resilience born out of “the struggle” of the worldwide pandemic that morphs into an exhilarating epic.
Another pandemic song, ‘Changing’ refers to a “Destination unknown / Without a vision”; reminiscent of ‘I Can’t Stand‘ from the ‘V’ EP, it owes its rumbling backbone to BLANCK MASS. Continuing the theme, ‘Hand Out The Drugs’ provides a huge wonderwall of synthesizers, throbbing beats and full of majestic melodies, it’s another BLANCK MASS co-production which captures the longing for fun and escapism in a locked-down world.
Named after the two small towns in the historical Swedish province of Småland that Berg and Stenemo respectively grew up in, ‘Tranås/Stenslanda’ possesses a lush introspection. And when an emotionally charged Stenemo hits the high notes and responded to by Berg’s gorgeous swirling synth, there is a melancholic grit that is also strangely uplifting in a manner that Scandinavians always seem to excel at. It celebrates the liberating escape that music provides with the profound line “now headphones can cover that hurt”.
A song about “the war between energies”, ‘Don’t Take The Light Away’ places Stenemo’s wounded croon over a tide of stabbing strings, galloping percussion and surging bass, the chanted chorus simultaneously coming over desperate yet triumphant.
Dominated by a melodic stabbing riff, the celebratory pop rave of ‘Teenage Bliss’, sees KITE explore youthful innocence and reminiscences, recalling their earlier songs like ‘Ways To Dance’ and ‘Jonny Boy’. The dynamic combination of KITE and BLANCK MASS is wonderfully hymn-like, with Stenemo’s bittersweet revelation that “life is not like your first kiss…”
Now if Ennio Morricone composed music for Nordic Noir dramas, it would sound like ‘Demons & Shame’. Shaped by a ritualistic drum mantra and brooding bass drones, it confronts the despair that life occasionally throws up while pursuing visions and dreams as Stenemo screams his frustration over Berg’s epic soundscape.
Then like a slice of Nordic gospel, ‘Glassy Eyes’ confronts the turmoil of existential anxiety while befitting its title, ‘Bocelli’ is almost operatic, sombre yet impassioned with backing from the symphonic school of Vangelis.
The hypnotic ‘Bowie ’95’ takes in midlife angst where you are “Supposed to know politics when you’re 46” but are “some light years away from this”; it was 1995 that David Bowie regained his artistic credibility with the ‘1.Outside’ album co-produced by Brian Eno after his ‘Glass Spider’ sins. With an intense BLANCK MASS assisted wall of sound, it is a call to return to self-expression rather than continuing to satisfy others to one’s own detriment.
Self-produced by KITE with Daniel Fagerström, ‘Panic Music’ is fierce. But while the neo-gothic textures are present and correct, Christian Berg further explores his fascination for electronic drones and swoops while there is also the surprise of a guitar solo in the middle eight.
Almost acapella at its start, ‘Losing’ is shaped by doomy piano chords to accompany an anguished vocal from Stenemo in deep harmony with Henric de la Cour as they see “dark skies on the rise”. As immense rhythms and synthetic sweeps creep in, the haunting canvas is dominated with fraught ad libs from Anna Von Hausswolff.
Originally recorded as the love theme to Titus Paar’s dystopian action thriller ‘The Perfect Weapon’ starring Steven Seagal, ‘Hopelessly Unholy’ is aesthetically cinematic, making fine use of traditional orchestrations arranged by Jonas Valfridsson. There is the emotive air of Hans Zimmer in the majestic arrangement, although a fading metronomic pulse of synth coming over like a tracking beacon provides an offset.
Photo by Jonas Andersson
As the wall-of-sound mood piece ‘Hum Hum’ closes proceedings, the question must be asked whether this collection of seven singles works as an album? Documenting a period of trials and tribulations for a duo who have endured an existential crisis, then ‘VII’ does the job and tells a story via its aural diaries. Nicklas Stenemo and Christian Berg are now back where there should have been.
In that time, KITE’s sound has got bigger and more ambitious, so naturally it is time to experience their mystic wonderland within bigger and more ambitious settings. Across its 70 minutes, ‘VII’ more than showcases the power and the glory of KITE.
‘VII’ is released on 9 August 2024 by Dais Records as a double vinyl LP in a variety of colour combinations, CD and download, available via https://found.ee/kitevii
KITE 2024 US + European dates include:
Richmond VA Fallout (28 August), Baltimore MD Metro Gallery (29 August), Brooklyn NY Murder of Crows Festival (30 August), Boston MA Middle East Upstairs (31 August), Berlin Hole 44 (18 September), Bielefeld Forum (19 September), Hamburg Reeperbahn Festival (20 September), Copenhagen Vega (21 September), Dortmund JunkYard (24 September), Cologne Gebäude 9 (24 September), Frankfurt Nachtleben (25 September), Nuremberg Club Stereo (26 September), Prague Futurum Bar (27 September), Atlanta GA The Masquerade Altar (9 October), Tampa FL Absolution Festival (10 October), San Francisco CA DNA Lounge (11 October), Los Angeles Cold Waves LA Showcase (13 October), Portland OR Star Theater (15 October), Chicago IL Beat Kitchen (16 October), Austin TX Elysium (17 October), Dallas TX Tassel (18 October), Minneapolis MN Ground Zero (19 October), Madison WI Crucible Madison (20 October), London Downstairs at the Dome (21 November)
With nine acclaimed long players to their name, ADULT. issued their most recent album ‘Becoming Undone’ as a doomy discordant statement capturing “something that’s falling apart”.
In a 23 year career, Adam Lee Miller and Nicola Kuperus first came to wider attention with ‘Hand To Phone’ in 2001. Presenting a stark response to their surroundings, the dystopian demeanour of ADULT. remains as vital as ever as their living art project continues to evolve.
Although 2013’s ‘The Way Things Fall’ possessed an unexpected accessibility and 2017’s ‘Detroit House Guests’ saw the Detroit synth-punk duo open their doors to outside collaborators, this new body of work is more personal, embroiled in pain and bereavement while created in isolation during a state of flux with a healthy acceptance of destruction.
ADULT. kindly took time out from a hectic and intense European live tour to have a quick chat with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about ‘Becoming Undone’ and the development of their dark dance aesthetic…
Thematically and conceptually, how does ‘Becoming Undone’ differ from previous ADULT. albums?
In working on a new album, we always try to approach the process differently. For instance, the last album ‘Perception IS/AS/OF Deception’ was written in a black void with minimal equipment at hand for the demos. ‘This Behavior’ was written in a remote cabin in the woods. ‘Why Bother?’ was more soundtrack oriented and based on serial killers and cult leaders.
In our latest album ‘Becoming Undone’, it was literally written out of pure necessity to try to emerge out of the liminal state we were put in through the pandemic. We did not control the concept on this record – the world did. So there is a lot more dissonance and looping motifs in this record, rhythm is stronger than melody as there was no harmony in the world as we wrote it. This album was a mirror to the world land life in general.
‘Becoming Undone’ has been described as capturing “something that’s falling apart”?
Well, we wrote the album during the pandemic when everything was falling apart. Massive amount of people were dying of the virus and Nicola‘s father passed away (not from Covid, but during the pandemic). We had lost all of our tours and all of our income. Then as we were trying once again to get into the writing process, the ex-loser President of the United States decided to try to do his big lie and steal the election, followed by the insurrection on the US Capitol – sooooo everything really was falling apart and we felt to album should mirror that.
As well as synths, ‘Becoming Undone’ sees vocal loop pedals added to the tech armoury, what attracted you to using these?
One of the main things we like about analog equipment (which is 97% of our studio) is the different interfaces they have and the different abilities to move between control and arbitrary experimentation. We both find vocal loop pedals very non-intuitive (as opposed to something from Roland, which we understand easily the way the gear works). So for us, the looper gave us a chance to not be in control, to come up with some layers or parts to songs that we normally would not come up with. It added randomness to the songs.
The music has ramped up percussively and ‘Our Bodies Weren’t Wrong’ comes with a fitting EBM backdrop, had there been any inspiration from having worked previously with Douglas J McCarthy of NITZER EBB?
NITZER EBB has always been a major influence for the both of us. It was one of the few bands when we met years ago that we really had in common. The music on the new album ‘Becoming Undone’ has become more and more percussive because we included electronic pads, not only to the writing process, but to the live set as well. This came out of many different reasons, but one was that we figured after the pandemic, people were going to be ready to rage and as London, Brussels, Berlin and other cities have proven – that is very true!
THROBBING GRISTLE have been cited as an influence on the album with ‘Normative Sludge’ examining the delusional nature of the Instagram / Tik Tok generation, why was this such an inspirational source for you?
THROBBING GRISTLE is one of our favorite bands and it not only comes down to the quality of the songs but also the way they do not fit into any single genre. They came up with a name for their own genre (Industrial) which must have been very liberating until it was stolen from them for idiots like Marilyn Manson. Going back to this idea of things falling apart, THROBBING GRISTLE is so good at having songs that sound like they’re falling apart. As we wanted to discuss the ideas of collapse, they were an obvious inspiration.
Although there is less melody this time round, do you think ‘Undoing / Undone’ and ‘I Am Nothing’ could be considered quite classic ADULT. songs?
The only way to know if something will be classic is to allow time to pass. For us, everything on this new album is too close to us right now to dissect.
Industrial S&M looms on ‘I, Obedient’, is society too submissive now?
Society is an awfully big word. Of course there are parts of society that are too submissive and there are parts of society that are resisting. Always resisting.
‘Teeth Out Pt. II’ is a doomy aural collage of drones like a symbol of decay, how did the track come together?
This is one of those magical tracks where we got the new looper and we had absolutely no idea how to operate it. Adam always reads manuals but Nicola never does and that brings two different approaches to the song writing process. So Nicola just started immediately working with the pedal and suddenly there were three or four really beautiful layers counterpointing each other. When we came back to the demo months later, we were shocked it was almost complete as it was. We even tried adding drum machines to the song but in the end it became our first song ever without any beats!
What are your hopes and fears for the future, you have talked about how “Humans have always been pretty terrible”?
We have no hopes for the future and we have many fears like everyone right now, but at the end of the day we just have to be present – at least try to. Living in the moment seems to be the most important thing right now. We played a pretty insane show in Brussels two weeks ago and there was this 9 year old girl that was the daughter of one of the volunteers at the venue that befriended us during the evening and after the show she came up to Nicola and said “Do you know what I liked about your show? You just went for it!” That’s our current motto for this time and place in time.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to ADULT.
Having made an impression in 2001 with ‘Hand To Phone’, Nicola Kuperus and Adam Lee Miller are back as ADULT. and 2022 sees the duo ‘Becoming Undone’. It captures in their own words “something that’s falling apart”.
Album number nine sees vocal loop pedals and percussion pads added to the ADULT. synth armoury to present a stark response to their surroundings.
Whereas 2017’s ‘Detroit House Guests’ saw ADULT. open their doors to collaborators such as Douglas J McCarthy from NITZER EBB, Michael Gira from SWANS and Shannon Funchess from LIGHT ASYLUM, this new body of work is more personal, with the state of the world and personal bereavement among the themes.
Opener ‘Undoing / Undone’ presents an electro-punk Siouxsie snarl over a metronomic setting that is not without threat. Energetic, aggressive and unsettling, ‘Our Bodies Weren’t Wrong’ comes with a suitably EBM backdrop.
‘Fools (We Are…)’ is a snuff movie in 5 minutes, screeching and stabbing with a more of a shout than a snarl, recalling ‘THROBBING GRISTLE’s ‘Persuasion’ but with beats. Continuing with the looming rumble of THROBBING GRISTLE, ‘Normative Sludge’ examines the delusional nature of the Instagram / Tik Tok generation with fits of white noise. The ironic ‘She’s Nice Looking’ covers a similar topic with its building rhythmic claustrophobia and schizoid delivery.
The thumping techno of ‘I Am Nothing’ is classic ADULT. with a penetrating sharpness and a fierce attacking crescendo while ‘I, Obedient’ is absorbing industrial S&M with Kuperus acting as a fitting dominatrix. Closing with ‘Teeth Out Pt. II’, this is a doomy aural collage of drones and voice… “what are we waiting for?” Kuperus asks in a symbol of desolate decay.
Despite having released music since 1998, ADULT. have shown that their dystopian demeanour remains as vital as ever and has not waned over the years as their living art project continues to evolve.
With a considered sonic cohesion that remains true to the spirit of the duo, ‘Becoming Undone’ does not disappoint and will keep the ADULT. faithful more than satisfied.
If Jane Birkin had been backed by minimal electronics from Serge Gainsbourg, then they probably would have sounded like XENO & OAKLANDER.
Already veterans of seven albums, Liz Wendelbo and Sean McBride’s new long player ‘Vi/deo’ continues to expand on the duo’s multi-sensory exploration of synaesthesia, inspired by perfumes, celebrity culture and vintage technology such as Roland’s SH101, RS09, System 100 and TR808 alongside a Serge modular system and ARP sequencer.
Although recorded at their Southern Connecticut home studio, ‘Vi/deo’ exhibits hints of authentic Europeanism in the form of Italo and French disco-noir courtesy of Wendelbo’s wispy Franco / Norwegian charm.
She said: “The title of the album ‘Vi/deo’ is a reference to the Latin meaning of the word, ‘I see’. I’m really interested in the way senses influence each other: colors that are sounds that are scents that are tastes. Synaesthesia is a fascinating effect: how music can trigger different senses all at once, a note can have a color, a sensation, a scent.”
In a period when short and sharp eight track albums have been prevalent, XENO & OAKLANDER push the definition boundaries in an engaging seven song offering. With an unexpected industrial introduction and those textures later being inter-dispersed throughout, ‘Infinite Sadness’ plays with simulated slapped bass over a tense machine beat to provide a melancholic but vibrant start.
Meanwhile, the catchy electro-disco of ‘Poison’ has its rhythmic syncopation offset by the uneasy feel of a supernatural drama. Expanding on a European disco theme, the wonderful ‘Afar’ is the best song on ‘Vi/deo’, alluringly presented en Français for an infectious if bittersweet dancefloor experience.
Like it was tailor made for an Autumnal drive along the Côte d’Azur, ‘Technicolor’ exhibits a moody cocooned squelch in its widescreen setting with pretty synth melodies complimenting Wendelbo’s almost whispered tones.
The harder edged ‘Gain’ offers a boisterous bounce to proceedings laced with some accelerated keyboard jabs, while the more steadfast ‘Movie Star’ captures the innocence of an enthralling visit to the cinema and being hypnotised by the lead. Closing with ‘Rain Garden’, the cacophony of blips and a solid staccato synthbass provide the backbone for an airy uptempo conclusion.
If you have any of XENO & OAKLANDER’s previous releases, then ‘Vi/deo’ will undoubtedly appeal. Flirtatious and perhaps less icy than previously in the aural equivalent of Gauloises smoke filling a Parisian night club, while the vocal style will continue to be polarising for some, the album’s dancier template may possess crossover potential to more synthpop-inclined audiences.
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