Tag: Kid Moxie (Page 2 of 8)

KID MOXIE & NINA Interview

2 March 2023 /

Photo by Paige Von Bank

‘Lust’ is the title of upcoming collaborative EP by KID MOXIE & NINA released by Italians Do It Better.

KID MOXIE is the musical vehicle of Athens-born LA-based musician and composer Elena Charbila whose most recent solo album ‘Better Than Electric’ was released in 2022. Meanwhile, Berliner Nina Boldt is best known by her mononym NINA as the “Queen of Synthwave” with two acclaimed albums ‘Sleepwalking’ and ‘Synthian’ to her name.

The union began from Charbila’s desire to cover ‘Waiting For Tonight’, the 1999 hit by Jennifer Lopez, in a downtempo retrowave style. Meetings took place in Berlin, Athens and Los Angeles to produce five tracks and three videos together.

The end result came to the attention of Italian Do It Better, best known as the home of CHROMATICS and DESIRE who appeared on the soundtrack to the 2011 movie ‘Drive’. After issuing ‘Waiting For Tonight’ on the ‘After Dark 4’ compilation alongside other acts on the roster such as JOON, MOTHERMARY, DOUBLE MIXTE, CAUSEWAY, DLINA VOLNY, LOVE OBJECT and GLÜME, the prestigious label signed the pair to release the ‘Lust’ EP.

From opposite sides of the Atlantic, Elena Charbila and Nina Boldt got together on Zoom with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK to chat about their fruitful partnership, the making of the ‘Lust’ EP’ and becoming part of the Italians Do It Better family.

So who approached who?

Nina: Our manager Michael Pagnotta, who we’d both known for a long time individually, brought us together, he thought our voices would match really well together. He was right and it’s such a cool collaboration. I found our voices to be very complimentary.

Elena: Michael worked with ERASURE and that’s our mutual connection because Nina played some shows with them in the US… I was asked to do them too so we would have met then but I ended up doing a remix of ‘Sacred’ from their album ‘The Violet Flame’. Michael told me I had a doppelgänger in Germany and made the suggestion to do something.

At the time, I was obsessed with the idea of doing a J-Lo cover so when we started talking, it became apparent that this would be awesome to do as a duet and how sexy it would be to put a new twist on such a dance track, slow down the beats and make it sinister like Miami Nights 1984 or something. That’s how it started…

 

Photo by Paige Von Bank

Your version of ‘Waiting For Tonight’ has this sensual anticipation of consummation… *laughs*

Elena: I feel the way it was, it was very clubby and commercial… we’re both obsessed with stuff like ‘Drive’, ‘Blade Runner’ and all those things, and they have this driving bass sound which is sort of like a trademark for both of us at this point. I felt we should bring it to that song. It has such a beautiful melody but I think the whole beat situation and Latin vibes don’t let that shine. I feel like in our cover and I’m very proud of it, I think we really accentuated the melody.

Did you know the Jennifer Lopez version of ‘Waiting For Tonight’ is a cover, the original was by 3RD PARTY?

Elena: I found out along the way! *laughs*

Nina: Chi, you’re doing your homework really well… even knowing that, I have a special fondness for J.Lo’s version as it was kind of a new millennium dance theme.

In terms of getting to know each other musically, was there a particular song by the other which convinced you “I want to work with this girl!”?

Nina: That’s a very good question!

Elena: When Michael mentioned Nina again to me, I started listening to her stuff and I became obsessed, like I know ALL the lyrics!

Nina: You were AMAZING! You were singing ‘Synthian’ really loud and knew all the lyrics while we were driving in LA! I was impressed!

Elena: I was obsessed! These songs are magical, they’re beautiful. There were certain songs like ‘Synthian’ for example that I found so ballsy, it could have been an 80s anthem, there was no holding back. I loved the idea of that, it was very courageous in a way and it was owned itself. That particular track for me, I was like “let’s f**king do it!”

What was it about Elena that convinced you to work with her?

Nina: I fell in love with her vocals, I love how sensual and smooth they are. One of my favourite tracks is ‘Big In Japan’ by ALPHAVILLE so when she covered that, I thought it was awesome because covers are difficult things to do and not everyone gets it or you don’t feel connected to it because you are so used to the original… but this cover, she made it her own just like she did with ‘Creep’. So before I met Elena in person, ‘Big In Japan’ was the standout for me, just because it’s one of my favourite songs…

Elena: It’s such a good German choice 😉

Photo by Paige Von Bank

So how did the Italians Do It Better connection develop?

Elena: Well Nina knew Megan Louise who is DESIRE and President of the label…

Nina: A while back, Megan featured my cover of Blondie’s ‘Heart Of Glass’ in one of her mixtapes. Being a huge fan of DESIRE, this was a great honour for me, so I reached out and we started talking. She was so supportive of my first independent release ‘Carnival Night’ when it came out, which I really appreciated. I got to know her a bit better and after meeting Elena, we both realised that we felt the same way about Italians Do It Better, so it was an obvious choice for us to go with them.

Elena: We really wanted to be adopted…

Nina: We were both free and it was like “Take us, we love you!” *laughs*

Let’s talk about the title song of the EP. I thought it was interesting that there is the obvious English meaning which is more erotic but ‘Lust’ is the German word for “Pleasure” in a more innocent manner… was there any deliberate choice of that word?

Nina: That’s interesting, I never actually thought of it like that! I had this lyric “lust is a crime” and I just wanted something about open love and excess which we both felt the same way about. We originally thought about calling it ‘You & I’ or even ‘You & The Night’ early on, but I think it was Johnny Jewel who suggested ‘Lust’.

How did the title track develop musically?

Elena: It was the second or third track musically that came together, ‘Waiting For Tonight’ was first and sprung the whole idea of the EP, then ‘Devotion’ and ‘Electric Kiss’ were respectively the darkness and the light. ‘Electric Kiss’ was the carefree ride and ‘Devotion’ more the sinister ride *laughs*

‘Lust’ actually came last as a compliment to everything that was going on sonically, like a bridge… it was like we needed something soft yet deep because ‘Electric Kiss’ carries the emotion of sweet connection but there’s no actual love or devotion.

For the most part, the music was made in Athens with Hristos Lainas aka Franklin producing the project. I was writing it and sending it to Nina and she would give feedback, we would bounce back our vocal ideas about it and it went from that.

Then there’s the video for ‘Lust’…

Elena: The video is pretty sensual and erotica, now that I think about it, there’s different kinds of love in every song… in Greek, there’s different words for each kind of love, it’s not just “love”, there’s “eros” which is the erotic love and there’s the devoted deep love… ‘Waiting For Tonight’ is maybe our anticipation for new love in my head.

Nina: ‘Lust’ for me is like a deep connection, that excess and passion…

Elena: It’s that going back one more time, something that’s unfinished, it has that cyclical feel to it musically and lyrically that it keeps going back. For me, it was like my personal favourite, I immediately had such a ❤️ connection to that particular track. Which one is yours Nina?

Nina: They all have something special but if I have to pick one, it’s ‘Devotion’ because I really love that spoken word mixing with the sensual vocals and it’s a bit more playful and there’s anticipation there. I think it’s interesting also that Hristos did that bendy synth sound…

Photo by George Tripodakis

Yes, I really like that bendy synth sound on ‘Devotion’, it’s as though it’s illustrating the risk of driving into a forbidden relationship? 

Nina: There’s a lot of that, but with ‘Electric Kiss’, it’s more sweet and innocent, that’s more a “drive into the sunset” kind of song, I feel that contrast. It feels a lot more 80s in a way, Synthwave fans will hopefully enjoy that track as well. RADIO WOLF does that dreamy guitar sound which I’m a big fan of.

The EP’s palette is quite varied, you have pacy songs, slow retrowave, covers and ‘Crime’ has this “saxiness”…

Elena: It was supposed to be called ‘Sax Is A Crime’ but you know, people just said “use one word, ‘Crime’”!

Nina: The sax for ‘Crime’ was a bit of a surprise when I heard it in LA and that prompted some sexy spoken words. Our approach was ‘Blade Runner: The Erotic Cut’! Haha! For the EP as a whole, since we wanted to express ourselves in new ways, we incorporated unexpected musical ideas. That’s why the mix of lush guitars, warped bass notes, and cut up vocal FX are built in. They aroused our creativity..

Elena: We’re both obsessed with ‘Blade Runner’ so when I recorded it here in LA, I had this view of the skyline and I had one of my best friends Skylar play that particular sax line. I didn’t know if we were going to put vocals on it or have it as an outro to the EP to add to the cinematic element of the other tracks. When Nina and I heard it together, Johnny Jewel felt it needed to be like ‘Blade Runner’, sultry like ‘Tears In The Rain’ but as it’s androids, its devoid of sexuality, whereas ours, it’s very human and very inviting, it’s inviting “one night with you”, we’ll make your dreams come true.

We’re creating a fantasy world cinematically, sexually speaking. People can think whatever they want about ‘this’. Are we singing this to each other? Are we singing it to your man, my woman? It’s up for your interpretation; we’re not going to feed it to you. It’s just going to be a warm dish, you can eat it however you want.

Photo by George Tripodakis

Are there any more videos planned?

Elena: There’s one for ‘Crime’, it’s definitely in line with the song, it’s hot and very inviting, and it’s very red and black! *laughs*

Nina: There’s sexy silhouettes…

Elena: And there’s one for ‘Devotion’…

Nina: Yes, it’s a bit more of a driving song so we have a car in there. It was filmed in Los Angeles and it’s got lots of neon lights, very sexy and colourful, I don’t want to give away too much… it’s quite different from ‘Lust’ which is nice…

Elena: …it’s probably the most ‘Blade Runner’ influenced because of the location amongst the tall buildings. There’s a chase and as our most dangerous sounding song, it has some Theremin in there as well. There’s a universe where ‘Devotion’ is the track of being chased, but whoever is chasing us doesn’t want to do anything bad to us. *laughs*

Now although you are on different continents, you have met up a few times in Berlin, Athens and LA… which meet-up was the most fun?

Nina: It’s hard to choose. So many great memories but meeting in Berlin was exciting because it was our first encounter. We just gelled together so well. I’m so proud that we managed to write five songs in only two days, that was incredible. Also to me personally, after COVID and all that, things had been difficult so it was a real escape just being in the studio making music.

Elena: I feel like Berlin was basically finishing the EP, putting down all the vocals and writing the lyrics, I’d never co-written lyrics before… co-writing can be such a “back-and-forth” thing and can take f**king ages, but this was, and I kept joking about it, like German efficiency… cos Chi, you know, Greeks, when you leave them loose on their own, they ain’t efficient! *laughs*

So Berlin was like hankering down to finish the EP but then LA was about putting the visuals to the music with a video directed by Joe Rubenstein for ‘Devotion’. It was like fleshing out the universe of ‘Lust’ as it does have themes of old Hollywood with images of palm trees, glamour and driving luxurious cars at night… it has a mystique.

Then in Athens, we shot two videos with director Paige Von Bank, it was so crazy because we did them both in a day. They were filmed by George Geranios of FOTONOVELA who you know and Sophie Sarigiannidou from MARSHEAUX did our make-up, it was all such a family affair… and then we feasted at George’s family tavern after the shoot

That does explain the creative tension in this collaboration which does have this urgent feel about it, there’s no “mañana” about it …

Elena: yes, for me, it was the first time we crammed so much in a “pop” or song-based project of mine. With the soundtrack stuff, I am more used to the pressure of “deliver this now” which feels very stressful always, but for this, it felt like the good kind of stress that you are going to be so productive and you have this challenge. I feel like we made it every single time with Nina. Usually, it’s just “I’m just writing a song, it could take however long” but this time it really worked for me.

Photo by George Tripodakis

So what is the future of your creative relationship? Are you going to do a second EP?

Elena: I would love to do more stuff and I’m sure we will, but we are working on our own individual projects at the same time so it’s an open door.

Nina: That would be great! I think collaborating is a wonderful way to learn new things and push the envelope. I’m always open to it.

Are live shows a possibility or is that really not practical or cost-effective?

Elena: I mean, it’s not easy but we both want it and hopefully we will make it happen.

Nina: It would definitely be an adventure that everyone would enjoy, so I hope we can make it happen. Where there’s will there’s a way!

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to KID MOXIE & NINA

‘Electric Kiss’ is available as a single on the usual online platforms, pre-save link at https://idib.ffm.to/electrickiss

‘Lust’ is released as a digital EP via Italians Do It Better on 24th March 2023, pre-save at https://idib.ffm.to/lustep

http://www.facebook.com/kidmoxie

https://twitter.com/KIDMOXIEMUSIC

https://www.instagram.com/kid.moxie/

https://www.iloveninamusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/iloveninamusic

https://twitter.com/iloveninamusic

https://www.instagram.com/ninasounduk/

https://italiansdoitbetter.com/

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by George Tripodakis and Paige Von Bank
2nd March 2023

25 SONGS NOT SUNG BY THE LEAD VOCALIST

31 December 2022 /

Wikipedia says “The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard”.

It also adds “The lead vocalist may also be called the main vocalist or lead singer. Especially in rock music, the lead singer or solo singer is often the front man or front woman”. A BBC Radio 4 parody series ‘Radio Active’ first made the joke in 1981 that “Ringo Starr isn’t the best drummer in THE BEATLES” and in a similar way, it could be said that Bernard Sumner is not the best singer in NEW ORDER.

However, the lead vocalist is considered the figurehead and often the character of a band so regardless of what is said publicly about democracy, a hierarchy inevitably ensues.

But what happens when another member of the band takes their turn at the front? In most cases, it is just a one-off although sometimes it becomes recurring feature over successive albums. These tracks can meet with varying degrees of success, but there have even been occasions where the second vocalist eventually becomes lead singer! However, there have been strange situations where a less vocally competent instrumentalist is unhappy about the attention that a singer is getting and insists on switching roles, thus ensuring that the band does not play to any of its strengths!

So taking things back to front and with a limit of one track per act, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK presents a list of 25 songs not sung by the lead vocalist in chronological, then alpnabetical order…

ULTRAVOX Mr X (1980)

Having been an idea that dated back to the John Foxx-era of ULTRAVOX just before his departure, the KRAFTWERK influenced robotic spy story of ‘Mr X’ was voiced by Warren Cann while Midge Ure was settling in as the band’s new lead vocalist. The track had begun as ‘Touch & Go’ and been premiered live. In a gentlemen’s agreement, keyboardist Billy Currie gave his melody of ‘He’s A Liquid’ in return for Foxx’s melody to ‘Touch & Go’, hence the structural similarity to ‘Mr X’.

Available on the album ‘Vienna’ via Chrysalis Records

http://www.ultravox.org.uk/

DEPECHE MODE Any Second Now (1981)

Although now known as a songwriter, Martin Gore had contributed an instrumental ‘Big Muff’ and one song with lyrics ‘Tora! Tora! Tora!’ on DEPECHE MODE’s debut album. Written by Vince Clarke like most of ‘Speak & Spell’, ‘Any Second Now’ was a beautiful minimalist set piece that stood out amongst the dance friendly synthpop tunes and suited an understated tone of expression. And so began a tradition of Gore taking on DM’s ballads instead of front man Dave Gahan.

Available on the album ‘Speak & Spell’ via Sony Music

https://www.depechemode.com/

DRAMATIS Turn (1981)

DRAMATIS were the former Gary Numan live band and while they were musically virtuoso, the band’s Achilles’ heel was vocals. RRussell Bell and Denis Haines were the quartet’s main singers and Numan himself guested on their biggest hit ‘Love Needs No Disguise’. The classically trained multi-instrumentalist Chris Payne found himself a reluctant vocalist on a song he had written called ‘Turn’; “I have never felt comfortable about my own voice” he clarified.

Available on the album ‘For Future Reference’ via Cherry Red Records

https://www.discogs.com/artist/45761-Dramatis

NEW ORDER Doubts Even Here (1981)

After the end of JOY DIVISION, Peter Hook, Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris reconvened as NEW ORDER while recruiting Gillian Gilbert on keyboards and guitar. Synths and drum machines were taking greater prominence but not entirely. While Sumner did the majority of the vocals on their debut album ‘Movement’, it was Hooky’s fraught delivery on ‘Doubts Even Here’ and words from The Bible spoken by Gilbert that provided the album’s most glorious moment.

Available on the album ‘Movement’ via Rhino

http://www.neworder.com/

KISSING THE PINK Watching Their Eyes (1982)

Best known for the profound anti-war statement ‘The Last Film’ which entered the Top20 in 1983, KISSING THE PINK had Nick Whitecross as their lead singer. Produced by Colin Thurston, the baroque opera tinged ‘Watching Their Eyes’ saw saxophonist Josephine Wells provide a haunting impassioned vocal. Wells went on to play live with TEARS FOR FEARS but sadly, she was to later battle her own traumas as a survivor of the Marchioness boat disaster in 1989.

Available on the album ‘Naked’ via Cherry Red Records

https://www.facebook.com/kissingthepink/

CHINA CRISIS Wishful Thinking (1983)

After his OMD success, Mike Howlett produced the most synth based CHINA CRISIS long player. Utilising Emulator strings and a pizzicato sample derived from plucking an acoustic guitar string close to the bridge, ‘Wishful Thinking’ was written and sung by guitarist Eddie Lundon. A sweetly textured, melodic pop single that deserved its hit status, lead singer Gary Daly responded with ‘Never Too Late’ but that song was shelved to B-side status for sounding too similar.

Available on the album ‘Working With Fire & Steel – Possible Pop Songs Volume 2’ via Caroline Records

https://www.facebook.com/chinacrisisofficial/

TEARS FOR FEARS The Hurting (1983)

While Roland Orzabal is more or less seen as TEARS FOR FEARS lead singer now, that is not how it was perceived at the start even though he sang their debut single ‘Suffer The Children’. Following three Top10 hit singles prior to the release of their debut album ‘The Hurting’, Curt Smith was considered the face and the voice of the band. Orzabal was main songwriter and sang lead on the title track with a more angst-ridden take than was heard on the Smith-fronted singles.

Available on the album ‘The Hurting’ via Mercury Records

https://tearsforfears.com/

YAZOO Happy People (1983)

Of Vince Clarke’s most polarising song since ‘What’s Your Name?’ for DEPECHE MODE, Alison Moyet said “That could have been the beginning of the end for us… in fact, no it wasn’t because Vince had already decided to leave. ‘Happy People’, I just tried singing it a couple of ways and I just hit him with ‘I can’t do this, you want it sung, you sing it yourself mate!’… so he sang it himself, fair play to him”. The song was an ironic send-up of middle aged political activists.

Available on the album ‘Three Pieces’ via Mute Records

https://yazooinfo.com/

BERLIN Rumor Of Love (1984)

Multi-instrumentalist John Crawford had proved himself a capable if almost anonymous singer when duetting with BERLIN front woman Terri Nunn on their 1982 breakthrough track ‘Sex (I’m A…)’. But for the B-side of the 1984 Giorgio Moroder produced single ‘No More Words’, Crawford did a lead vocal turn on the Mike Howlett-helmed ‘Rumor Of Love’ which echoed Scott Walker and ended up as a bonus track on the original edition of the ‘Love Life’ album

Available on the album ‘Love Life’ via Rubellan Records

https://www.berlinmusic.net/

OMD Never Turn Away (1984)

While Andy McCluskey was the lead singer of OMD, Paul Humphreys would see his less frequent vocalled tracks released as singles with ‘Souvenir’, ‘Secret’ and ‘Forever Live & Die’ becoming international hits. While their fifth ‘Junk Culture’ saw forays into brass sections, calypso and reggae, ‘Never Turn Away’ was a more traditional OMD ballad with Autumnal atmospheres but while it was a fine album track, it made little impression as a single release.

Available on the album ‘Junk Culture’ via Virgin Records

https://www.omd.uk.com/

PROPAGANDA Dream Within A Dream (1985)

While Susanne Freytag was the original PROPAGANDA vocalist with her stark narrative style, she soon stepped back in favour of her friend and TOPOLINOS bandmate Claudia Brücken. While Freytag’s Germanic prose remained vital on songs such as ‘Doctor Mabuse’ and ‘P-Machinery’, her vocal style suited the lead role on ‘Dream With A Dream’, a 9 minute epic which put a mighty soundtrack to accompany an Edgar Allan Poe poem which was first published in 1849.

Available on the album ‘A Secret Wish’ via ZTT Records

https://www.xpropaganda.co.uk/

KRAFTWERK The Telephone Call (1986)

On the disappointing ‘Techno Pop’ née ‘Electric Café’ album, Karl Bartos gave an assured performance in his only lead vocal for KRAFTWERK on ‘The Telephone Call’. While the assertive automated phone messages were a sharpened metaphor for female empowerment, band politics were at play when Ralf Hütter refused to let Bartos lip-synch his part on the monochromatic video although Wolfgang Flür got to mime a single phrase while cast in shadow.

Available on the album ‘Techno Pop’ via EMI Music

https://kraftwerk.com/

PET SHOP BOYS Paninaro (1986)

“Passion and love and sex and money – Violence, religion, injustice and death” went the opening phrases of Chris Lowe’s debut lead vocal for PET SHOP BOYS. Dryly spoken rather than sung, the track was a celebration of an Italian fashion cult. The middle eight featuring an ‘Entertainment Tonight’ interview saw Lowe deadpan: “I don’t like Country & Western. I don’t like rock music. I don’t like Rockabilly. I don’t like much, really, do I? But what I do like, I love passionately!”

Available on the album ‘Alternative’ via EMI Music

https://www.petshopboys.co.uk/

NITZER EBB Let Beauty Loose (1987)

With Douglas J McCarthy fronting NITZER EBB, the singing abilities of instrumentalist Bon Harris only came to the fore with his ‘Songs From the Lemon Tree’ lockdown live streams of solo covers often tinged with falsetto. But on the ‘That Total Age’ album, he had shouted his way through ‘Let Beauty Loose’, a typical slice of frantically paced EBM. Acting as a supersub in late 2021, Harris stood in for a hospitalised McCarthy at two NITZER EBB shows in Palm Beach and Toronto.

Available on the album ‘That Total Age’ via Mute Records

http://www.nitzer-ebb.com/

BOOK OF LOVE With A Little Love (1988)

Originally from Philadelphia, BOOK OF LOVE were started by school friends Susan Ottaviano and Ted Ottaviano who were not actually related. Jade Lee and Lauren Roselli Johnson joined later on and the quartet were invited to support DEPECHE MODE on two US tours while their single ‘I Touch Roses’ was reissued in a Daniel Miller remix. Although Susan Ottaviano was lead vocalist, Ted Ottaviano impressed on ‘With A Little Love’ which was co-produced by Flood.

Available on the album ’Lullaby’ via Noble Rot

https://www.bookoflovemusic.com/

CAMOUFLAGE Sooner Than We Think (1989)

German trio CAMOUFLAGE named themselves after a YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA track. While Marcus Meyn was lead singer and the voice of hits like ‘The Great Commandment’, on their second album ‘Methods Of Silence’, both instrumentalists Heiko Maile and Oliver Kreyssig did a vocal turn, with the latter’s ‘Sooner Than We Think’ considered worthy enough to include on their first two Best Of compilations ‘We Stroke The Flames’ and ‘Rewind – The Best Of 95-87’.

Available on the album ‘Methods Of Silence’ via Universal Music

https://www.camouflage-music.com/en/News

KON KAN Move To Move (1989)

Despite Kevin Wynne being the voice on KON KAN’s sample heavy NEW ORDER inspired international hit ‘I Beg Your Pardon’, he was a hired hand as the mastermind behind the project was Canadian producer Barry Harris. The surprise success led to an album for which Wynne did most of the vocals for. However, Harris took the lead on the album’s title track. For the next two KON KAN albums ‘Syntonic’ and ‘Vida!’, Wynne was not recalled.

Available on the album ‘Move To Move’ via Atlantic Records

https://www.facebook.com/konkanofficial

THE HUMAN LEAGUE One Man In My Heart (1995)

Phil Oakey has often cited Susanne Sulley as the best singer in THE HUMAN LEAGUE. While she famously did a verse on the UK and US No1 ‘Don’t You Want Me?’ as well as various solo phrases on ‘(Keep Feeling) Fascination’ and ‘Heart Like A Wheel’, she didn’t get a lead vocal turn until ‘One Man In My Heart’. The format of the song fitted right in with the rise of female fronted trios like DUBSTAR, SAINT ETIENNE and PEACH.

Available on the album ‘Octopus’ via EastWest

https://thehumanleague.co.uk/

DURAN DURAN Medazzaland (1997)

After their panned 1995 covers album ‘Thank You’, DURAN DURAN were in a state of turmoil; Simon Le Bon was experiencing writer’s block while John Taylor was suffering from depression. This state of affairs led to Nick Rhodes working more closely with guitarist Warren Cuccurullo and the keyboardist taking a spoken word lead on the title track of the ‘Medazzaland’ album. Taylor left halfway through recording while the end product was only released in the US.

Available on the album ‘Medazzaland’ via Tape Modern

https://duranduran.com

LADYTRON True Mathematics (2002)

With a template similar to PROPAGANDA, LADYTRON had a singing vocalist in Helen Marnie while Mira Aroyo provided stark spoken prose in her native Bulgarian. While the latter had been an enticing subplot to ‘Discotraxx’ on the debut album ‘604’, Aroyo took the deadpan lead on the fierce ‘True Mathematics’ which opened their next album ‘Light & Magic’. Owing a debt to THE NORMAL’s ‘Warm Leatherette’, it premiered a much harder LADYTRON sound.

Available on the album ‘Light & Magic’ via Nettwerk

https://www.ladytron.com/

KID MOXIE Medium Pleasure – Marsheaux remix (2009)

KID MOXIE began as a duo comprising of Elena Charbila and Erica Zabowski, recording an EP ‘Human Stereo’ and album ‘Selector’. Although Charbila took the majority of the lead vocals in her airy continental style, Zabowski adopted more of a snarl on ‘Medium Pleasure’ with a lyric attacking cultural mediocrity. By the time ‘Selector’ was released, the pair had already parted.

Available on the album ‘Selector’ via Undo Records

https://www.facebook.com/kidmoxie

DE/VISION Kamikaze (2012)

Forming in 1988, German duo DE/VISION have been a mainstay in Europe for enthusiasts of darker electronic climes. Comprising of Steffen Keth on vocals and Thomas Adam on synths, their vast majority of their songs have been sung in English. For their 2012 album ‘Rockets & Swords’, there was a surprise in the penultimate song ‘Kamikaze’ which was not only voiced by Adam but also in Deutsch.

Available on the album ‘Rockets & Swords’ via Popgefahr Records

http://www.devision-music.de

TWINS NATALIA I Avoid Strangers (2014)

TWINS NATALIA comprised of Marc Schaffer, Steve Lippert, synth wizard Dave Hewson and singers Sharon Abbott and Julie Ruler, with the latter three from cult combo POEME ELECTRONIQUE. With classic Weimar Cabaret melodies and vibrant Kling Klang interplay, they conjured memories of holiday romances. But the uptempo ‘I Avoid Strangers’ featured Hewson on vocals, possessing a paranoia that suited the song perfectly.

Available on the album ‘The Destiny Room’ via Anna Logue Records

https://www.facebook.com/twinsnatalia

CHVRCHES High Enough To Carry You Over (2015)

The two Martin Doherty vocalled tracks on ‘The Bones Of What You Believe’ polarised opinion and his voice made an appearance again on the synth driven funk of ‘High Enough To Carry You Over’ for CHVRCHES second album ‘Every Open Eye’. While nowhere near as accomplished as main vocalist Lauren Mayberry, by taking on a more Americanised drawl in the vein of MISTER MISTER, this was a big improvement on the stoner vibe of his previos two singing attempts.

Available on the album ‘Every Open Eye’ via Virgin Records

http://chvrch.es/

APOPTYGMA BERZERK Nearest (2019)

The project of Norwegian Stephan Groth, APOPTYGMA BERZERK went Deutsch on the ‘Nein Danke!’ EP while displaying a prominent “NEWWAVESYNTHPOP” legend on its artwork. ‘Nearest’ saw Stephan’s live bandmate and brother Jonas step into the limelight on a chilled electronic ballad ‘Nearest’ that possessed the same ethereal qualities as the best known APOP track ‘Kathy’s Song’. Jonas Groth has since stepped fully up to the front in his own synthpop duo PISTON DAMP.

Available on the EP ‘Nein Danke!’ via Pitch Black Drive

http://www.theapboffice.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Catrine Christensen
31st December 2022

2022 END OF YEAR REVIEW

22 December 2022 /

Photo by Tapio Normall

It was hoped to be a year of positive electricity but with the oddball burst of negative waves, 2022 was summed up by the title of its best album.

The product of Finnish duo SIN COS TAN, ‘Living In Fear’ captured the anxieties of living with The Bear Next Door in a post-pandemic world. With billionaires taking over social media with the intent of allowing the extreme right wing an increased voice, it was as if the lessons of Trump and Bolsonaro had not been learned.

‘The Wolves Are Returning’ warned xPROPAGANDA on a track from their excellent album ‘The Heart Is Strange’, the message coming from two Germans whose grandparents’ generation “did nothing” and had made the mistake of opening up the door to the Nazis was extremely poignant.

It was as if The Cold War had never ended; the poetry of one who has escaped ethnic genocide and been separated from next of kin as a refugee has substance. So for Alanas Chosnau on his second album with Mark Reeder, this was ‘Life Everywhere’ and provided a deeper statement on life during wartime. Meanwhile China’s STOLEN presented their ‘Eroded Creation’ and explained ‘Why We Follow’.

Battles both worldwide and personal were being reflected in music everywhere with ‘War’ by I SPEAK MACHINE being another example. Things did not get much cheerier with Rodney Cromwell whose long-awaited second long player ‘Memory Box’ provided commentary on a sadly post-truth world, the so-called “alternative facts” as Donald Trump’s extremely dim advisor Kellyanne Conway liked to put it.

The decade so far has not been a barrel of laughs and the likes of UNIFY SEPARATE, BOY HARSHER, O+HER, NNHMN, VANDAL MOON and ADULT. captured the zeitgeist of the past 3 years.

Meanwhile, MECHA MAIKO maintained it was still ‘NOT OK’, I AM SNOW ANGEL felt it was now a ‘Lost World’ and Swedish duo SALLY SHAPIRO made their comeback by reflecting on ‘Sad Cities’.

As sardonic as ever, DUBSTAR presented their second collection of kitchen sink dramas since they reconfigured as a duo with ‘Two’ and reunited with producer Stephen Hague for their most acclaimed record since their 1995 debut ‘Disgraceful’.

On a more optimistic note, Italians Do It Better brought their cinematic world to London with headline shows by DESIRE and MOTHERMARY who each had new long form releases to air, while shyness was nice for the most promising breakthrough act of the year Gemma Cullingford who got all ‘Tongue Tied’ on her second long player. Meanwhile DAWN TO DAWN, ULTRAFLEX and H/P offered electronically escapist solutions to the year,

But KID MOXIE was happy to ‘Shine’ with the best video of 2022 while CZARINA got mystical with ‘Arcana’, Karin Park looked back at her ‘Private Collection’ and Patricia Wolf explored ambience on ‘See-Through’. Other female talent that shone brightly in 2022 included Norway’s SEA CHANGE, Sweden’s Hanna Rua, Alina Valentina from The Netherlands, Mexican Valentina Moretti and Anglo-French avant songstress Julia-Sophie but sister / brother duos MINIMAL SCHLAGER and SPRAY proved siblings could continue to work well together in synth.

40 years after the release of their debut album ‘Happy Families’, BLANCMANGE returned home to London Records for a ‘Private View’ while mainman Neil Arthur was keeping himself busy with FADER too. Having being shelved for 30 years, the second ELECTRIBE 101 album ‘Electribal Soul’ finally saw the light of day. And some 39 years after it was first conceived, the lost Warren Cann and Hans Zimmer opus ‘Spies’ was released in a new 21st Century recording by the HELDEN Project’s lead vocalist Zaine Griff.

Although PET SHOP BOYS celebrated their career with the magnificent ‘Dreamworld’ tour for the best live event of 2022 and joined SOFT CELL in the ‘Purple Zone’, Marc Almond and David Ball presented the disclaimer ‘*Happiness Not Included’ before announcing that they would be performing at a run of outdoor events in 2023 despite having stated their 2018 O2 extravaganza would be their last.

Also having declared a final album in 2014, RÖYKSOPP returned with the triple volumed ‘Profound Mysteries’ that featured Susanne Sundfør and Alison Goldfrapp.

Veterans Howard Jones, William Orbit, Jean-Michel Jarre and Wolfgang Flür as well as long-standing Nordic combos LUSTANS LAKEJER and A-HA released new albums but while the quality across the releases was mixed, fans were loyal and happy. After various trials and tribulations, TEARS FOR FEARS returned with ‘The Tipping Point’ and erased memories of the lacklustre 2004 comeback ‘Everybody Loves A Happy Ending’, but the duo were unable to capitalise when the majority of the UK concert tour of stately homes was cancelled due to an unfortunate accident that befell Curt Smith.

Creating a dehumanised technologically dependent Sci-Fi world, DIE KRUPPS opted for more machine than metal under their EBM pseudonym DIE ROBO SAPIENS. With NASA making its first steps back to the moon with the Artemis project, fittingly Italian producer EUGENE spent ‘Seven Years In Space’ and Ireland’s CIRCUIT3 looked back at space travel’s past on ‘Technology For The Youth’. Back on earth, THE WEEKND was still being accused of stealing from synthwave while coming up with the song of the year in ‘Less Than Zero’. In the meantime, having infuriated audiences by saying “f*ck that ‘synthwave’ stuff as u name it” in 2018, KAVINSKY was ‘Reborn’ with a second album that had much less of the wave and expanded into broader electronically generated templates with the occasional funkier overtones.

Celebrating ‘40 Years Of Hits’ on a sell-out arena tour and issuing a new album ‘Direction Of The Heart’ which featured a guest appearance by Russell Mael of SPARKS on the single ‘Traffic’ with the obligatory ‘Acoustic Mix’, as the excellent book ‘Themes For Great Cities’ by Graeme Thomson highlighted, the best years of SIMPLE MINDS are now well behind them. They are a poor facsimile of the great band they once were and as a special Summer concert in Edinburgh in honour of ‘New Gold Dream’ proved, Jim Kerr and Co can’t even play their best album properly.

Music-related books continued to be popular with Martyn Ware and Karl Bartos respectively writing their memoirs ‘Electronically Yours Vol1’ and ‘The Sound Of The Machine’. In a wider historical context, that crucial 1978-1983 period where electronic pop was more or less invented got documented in the encyclopaedic ‘Listening To The Music The Machines Make’ by Richard Evans.

2022 saw several prominent figures depart for the jukebox in the sky; Vangelis, Manuel Göttsching, Angelo Badalamenti, Julee Cruise, Dave Smith, Herb Deutsch, Terry Hall, Robert Marlow and Andy Fletcher will be sadly missed but ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK was particularly devasted by the passing of German electronic legend Klaus Schulze only 4 days after he gave a rare interview to the site.

Meanwhile Dave Gahan and Martin Gore announced yet another tour of underwhelming arena shows plonked into stadiums for an as-yet-unfinished album that at least had a title ‘Momento Mori’. Ticketscalper took advantage with so-called dynamic pricing (or legalised touting) as hapless Devotees were fleeced thousands of dollars in North America… all this just to see a continually ungrateful frontman (who didn’t even sing is own words on a DEPECHE MODE song until 2005) gesture with a microphone in the air on a catwalk rather than actually singing on it and to possibly hear a pre-1985 song performed that will inevitably ruined by The Drumhead and The Noodler!

As Juls Garat of Massachusetts goth band PILGRIMS OF YEARNING observed via social media: “If you’re spending a kidney on DEPECHE MODE tickets and not attending a local show this weekend, I don’t wanna see you complaining that there’s no scene, local venues or new music anymore”. With the lack of curiosity amongst audiences who were content with nostalgia and the like, it was a difficult year for independent acts.

There is no easy answer and as the old saying goes, you can take a horse to water but you can’t force it to drink. But one promoter that did hit on an innovative idea was Duskwaves who came up with afternoon synth gigs. Hosted at various locations in the South East of England with the aim of drumming up daytime weekend business at venues, events started at 2.00pm and ended by 6.00pm to allow for an easy journey home or possibly dinner afterwards. Artists such as YOUNG EMPRESS, INFRA VIOLET, STRIKE EAGLE and AUW joined in the family friendly fun and while the concept was unusual, with classic synth audiences not getting any younger, it has potential.

While the worldwide situation remains uncomfortable and unsettling, for The Cold War generation, it all seemed strangely familiar. As Jori Hulkkonen of SIN COS TAN said in an interview with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK recently: “It feels kind of comfortable to be back in that same state of mind that you grew up in!! It’s like you grew up in not a nice place, but you get 20-30 years out of it and then you get drawn back into The Cold War state of mind. It’s where I come from and there’s nothing good about it, but somehow feels very familiar so you can handle it in a different way”.

The Cold War inspired songs such as ‘Enola Gay’, ‘Fireside Favourite’, ‘All Stood Still’, ‘Let’s All Make A Bomb’, ‘I Melt With You’, ‘Dancing With Tears In My Eyes’ and ‘Five Minutes To Midnight’ which encapsulated the nuclear paranoia of the times. So if the current tensions go on any longer, how will artistic expression be affected and driven?

But as Synthesizer Patel actor Sanjeev Kohli wittily remarked of the UK’s 41 day Prime Minister aka Mad Lizzie following her successful leadership bid: “Liz Truss has now been trusted with the nuclear button. I honestly wouldn’t trust her with the bossanova button on a broken Yamaha keyboard”.

In a year which saw the bizarre scenario of a black vicar worshipping Enoch Powell on the repulsive gammon TV channel GB News and the truth about Tory PPE scandals becoming clearer, Richy Sunak, Ugly Patel, Cruella Braverman and Krazi Kwarteng continued to be the ultimate race traitors in their Westminster tribute band A FLOCK OF SIEG HEILS. Failing to look in the mirror, their role as collaborators was all as part of a wider self-serving mission to help keep the whites Reich and line the pockets of their already loaded banker mates instead of paying nurses a fair wage. Nurses are for life and not just for Covid. So what did happen to that £350 million promised for the NHS by that pompous lying posh boy Boris Johnson if Brexit happened? As Tim Burgess of THE CHARLATANS summed it all up rather succinctly on Twitter: “Worth remembering that the real enemy travels by private jet, not by dinghy” ✊😉

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 2022 playlist ‘Stay Negative To Be Positive’ playlist can be listened to at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4Mw0Fn10yNZQcrGzod98MM

Text by Chi Ming Lai
22nd December 2022

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 30 SONGS OF 2022

12 December 2022 /

During lockdown, electronic music displayed its emotional empathy with isolation and solitary working.

But as during The Cold War in its breakthrough years, it read the room again with the onset of worldwide and domestic conflicts, both armed and political.

There were times in 2022 that were as if The Cold War had never ended and in amongst the turmoil, artists reflected their anxieties on top of those already existing.

Jori Hulkkonen of SIN COS TAN said: “Overall, this decade has been a real downer with the pandemic and now the war, so if we are trying to look for silver linings here, I think it will be interesting for the creative community to get something out of it, the frustration, the fears and all that.”

As further pandemic songs were released as well, what emerged were songs of varying moods and while there was fresh optimising in the air, there were calls to arms and resignation looming too. Overall, 2022 saw many great individual tracks issued and mention must be made of NNHMN, NATION OF LANGUAGE, O+HER, DIE ROBO SAPIENS, DESIRE and MOTHERMARY who were among those shortlisted for this year’s listing.

As ever on ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, rules help control the fun… so restricted to tracks available on the usual online retail platforms with a restriction of one song per artist moniker, here are the 30 SONGS OF 2022 in alphabetical order by artist…

ANNIEE featuring VON HERTZOG Danger Electricity

Bubbling with a dynamic thrust, the angelic voice of Anniee evoked the excitement of a night clubbing while Von Hertzog provided the hypnotic backing and beautiful soundscape. “I was jogging in London and came across the words in the sidewalk ‘danger electricity’” she said, “I had always wanted to create a dance track – something that reflected my love for EDM, what I felt when I first heard it as a teenager, visiting clubs in Mallorca. Also the feeling I still get now taking the train to NYC and the energy of the city”.

Available on the single ‘Danger Electricity’ via Anniee and Von Hertzog

https://www.instagram.com/anniee_music/

ALANAS CHOSNAU & MARK REEDER All You Need To Love

For Alanas Chosnau and Mark Reeder, the ongoing world tensions were a symbol of ‘Life Everywhere’. Like a Harry Palmer film given an electro soundtrack and hidden behind the facade of love songs, their second album together poignantly made a statement on life during wartime. With a speedy conga mantra and a dominant digital clap, ‘All You Need Is Love’ entered funky electronic disco territory with roots in Reeder’s SHARK VEGAS days to emulate the propulsive air of NEW ORDER.

Available on the album ‘Life Everywhere’ via MFS

https://alanaschosnau.com/

https://www.facebook.com/markreeder.mfs

RODNEY CROMWELL The Winter Palace

Intended as a soundtrack to a sadly post truth world, Rodney Cromwell returned with his second album ‘Memory Box’. Despite questioning selective memories, album closer ‘The Winter Palace’ was all about wanting to forget a former beau because “I dream of you regardless, whether I am asleep or awake”. With hints of classic NEW ORDER and OMD, the wonderfully icy number embraced motorik mechanisation within a hypnotic electronic backdrop and providing a glorious synth solo for a hopeful uplift to savour.

Available on the album ‘Memory Box’ via Happy Robots Records

https://www.facebook.com/rodneycromwellartist

BOY HARSHER Machina featuring Ms. BOAN

BOY HARSHER made a short horror movie ‘The Runner’ and a soundtrack to go with it which stood up in its own right. Although comprising of their usual dark and danceable electronic pop, it proved to be their most diverse collection yet featuring several special guests. Sung in Spanish and English, ‘Machina’ featuring Ms. BOAN aka Mariana Saldaña was aimed at the dancefloor, recalling the Latino electronic disco of Bobby Orlando, particularly PET SHOP BOYS ‘A Man Could Get Arrested’.

Available on the album ‘The Runner’ via Nude Club / City Slang

https://boyharsher.com/

CIRCUIT3 Valentina Fly

For his third CIRCUIT3 album ‘Technology For The Youth’, Peter Fitzpatrick presented a retro-futuristic narrative on the world before the space shuttle. Valentina Tereshkova whose 1963 adventure in Vostok 6 made her the first woman in space was celebrated with ‘Valentina Fly’, the minimal structure and string machines of the wonderful piece evoking OMD. “She’s not a celebrated as Yuri Gagarin” said the Dubliner, but “in some respects, what she achieved was much greater.”

Available on the album ‘Technology For The Youth’ via https://circuit3.bandcamp.com/

http://www.circuit3.com/

GEMMA CULLINGFORD Tongue Tied

If Yoko Ono’s ‘Walking On Thin Ice’ had been reconfigured as a Balearic friendly electronic disco number, then it would have come out like ‘Tongue Tied’, the title track of the second album by Gemma Cullingford. With a nonchalant but sensual vocal style reminiscent of Sarah Nixey, ‘Tongue Tied’ exuded a positive if nervous energy in a purer metronomic adoption of electronics. “My boyfriend provided the lyrics knowing that I often get tongue tied and mince my words so he knew they’d mean something to me” she helpfully added. Shyness is nice…

Available on the album ‘Tongue Tied’ via Elmo Recordings

https://www.facebook.com/gemcullingford

DAWN TO DAWN Stereo

Canadian danceable dreampop trio DAWN TO DAWN celebrated the joy of music in times of adversity with ‘Stereo’. Driven by a Roland TR909, the song touched on the acceptance of confinement where “I wait for no one to ask ‘when do we go?’”. Embracing the notion that “you’re here – on the stereo”, in its romantic reflection of good times, a breezy infectious allure was captured while maintaining an understated synthesized danceability and a promise of better things to come.

Available on the album ‘Postcards From The Sun To The Moon’ via SSURROUNDSS

https://www.facebook.com/dawntodawnmusic

DUBSTAR Token

Since Sarah Blackwood and Chris Wilkie reconfigured DUBSTAR as a duo, there was always the impression that the comeback album ‘One’ was a warm-up. Opening album ‘Two’  was ‘Token’, possibly their most overt synthpop statement yet. Co-produced by Stephen Hague, it pointed to his work with PET SHOP BOYS and ERASURE. A song full of resilience, its narrative about leaving behind abusive relationships and minor gestures was a topic that many could relate to.

Available on the album ‘Two’ via Northern Writes

https://www.dubstarofficial.co/

EMMON The Battle

Since releasing her first sassy pop album ‘The Art & The Evil’ in 2007, Emma Nylen has got progressively darker and harder while still retaining an enigmatic presence. While most of her ‘Recon’ album headed in an EBM direction influenced by NITZER EBB and FRONT 242, synthpop with a syncopated backbone was the sound on the ‘Black Celebration’ inflected mission that was ‘The Battle’, a timely commentary on world and deomestic events. With an absorbing metallic chill, it was the highlight of her fifth long player proper.

Available on the album ‘Recon’ via Icons Creating Real Art

https://www.facebook.com/emmonsweden

FADER Serpentine

As with previous FADER works, Benge worked alone on the instrumentation at his Memetune Studios complex in Cornwall while Neil Arthur did his lyrics and vocals at his home studio. Their third album together ‘Quartz’ was an understated artistic statement inspired by incidental atmospheric music used in vintage TV shows. Minimalistic structures provided a reflective and elegiac backdrop. The icy waltz ‘Serpentine’ opened the album with its sparse keys like Gary Numan meeting Brian Eno and reminiscent of the former’s ‘Dance’ album from 1981.

Available on the album ‘Quartz’ via Blanc Check Records

https://www.facebook.com/WeAreFader

THE GOLDEN FILTER Drive

A reinterpretation of THE CARS’ mournful classic from 1984 which had already been a hit in its own right before becoming associated with Live Aid, this chilling version of ‘Drive’ by THE GOLDEN FILTER simply captured the zeitgeist in amongst the turmoil of world events… the work of Penelope Trappes and Stephen Hindman who released their first album ‘Volupsa’ in 2010, the duo defied people not to well up on hearing the words “Who’s gonna tell you when it’s too late? Who’s gonna tell you things aren’t so great?”.

Available on the single ‘Drive’ via The Golden Filter

https://www.thegoldenfilter.com/

H/P Vicinities

Based in Limoges, H/P were formally known as HAPPINESS PROJECT, issuing their first album ‘Remove Or Disable’ in 2008. For their H/P debut ‘Programma’, the trio not only shortened their moniker but also adopted a minimal synth approach. Acknowledging the debt of influence to cult French act MARTIN DUPONT, their bassist Alain Seghir guested on the glorious album closer ‘Vicinities’. Applying a complex spiral of delicate blips, it was enclosed is an emotional centre that recalls OMD for possibly the album’s stand-out song.

Available on the album ‘Programma’ via BOREDOMproduct

https://www.facebook.com/hp.programma

I SPEAK MACHINE War

Adopting the dishevelled persona of a satanic Libertas, ‘War’ by I SPEAK MACHINE was another album that captured the zeitgeist, although the lyrics were much more personal to Tara Busch. Short and sweet with hints of Gary Numan’s ‘Metal’, the screeching title song opener set the scene and the album’s intentions with a rumbling backdrop. “It definitely has ‘Metal’ in there as an influence” she said, “It came about from me messing with my Casio SK1 and then running that through a Moogerfooger ClusterFlux to make it all bendy and provide actual notes from the feedback.”

Available on the album ‘War’ via https://ispeakmachine.bandcamp.com/

https://www.ispeakmachine.com

KAREN HUNTER Don’t Call My Name

Veteran singer Karen Hunter was a live band member on Gary Numan’s ‘Berserker’ and ‘The Fury’ tours and recorded a wonderful cover of the ballad ‘Don’t Call My Name’ in support of The Ced Sharpley Drumming Bursary. The original was the closing track on the 1988 album ‘Metal Rhythm’ and the haunting song is given a serene feminine twist. As well as being produced by music veteran Steve Hunter who played with Peter Gabriel and Lou Reed, Numan associates Chris Payne and Andy Coughlan also contributed.

Available as a digital single ‘Don’t Call My Name’ via Living Ornaments

https://karenhunter.hearnow.com/

KAVINSKY Outsider

Vincent Belorgey aka Kavinsky made his name with ‘Night Call’ featuring vocals by Lovefoxxx of CSS. But after the track was featured in the cult movie ‘Drive’ in 2011, the Frenchman found it was becoming something of an albatross around his neck. He upset people when he said “f*ck that ‘synthwave’ stuff as u name it”. Seeming taking an age to record his follow-up to the ‘OutRun’ album, he made a statement to be ‘Reborn’. Channelling his inner Moroder circa ‘Midnight Express, ‘Outsider’ was a magnificent instrumental laced with orchestrated drama and tension.

Available on the album ‘Reborn’ via Record Makers / Protovision

https://kavinsky.com/

KID MOXIE Shine

Compared with the previous works of KID MOXIE, there were darker and harder aesthetics at play on ‘Shine’ in collaboration with German EBM producer FADERHEAD. Taking both musical and lyrical inspiration from DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Never Let Me Down Again’, front woman Elena Charbila assertively declared “I’m taking the lead in the back seat”. “We definitely channelled some DM vibes” she remembered, “it was even a running joke while we were in studio recording it with FADERHEAD”.

Available on the album ‘Better Than Electric’ via Pasadena Records

http://www.facebook.com/kidmoxie

KITE Panic Music

As the wait for the ‘VII’ EP continues, “Sweden’s best kept pop-secret” returned with an interim single. ‘Panic Music’ exuded a fierce anxiety with front man Nicklas Stenemo presenting his characteristic screaming delivery. Over an epic neo-gothic backdrop now associated with KITE, Christian Berg continued his fascination for electronic drones and swoops while there was also the surprise of a guitar solo in the middle eight. The stress and strain of the past two years and a very uncertain future was effectively captured in song.

Available on the digital single ‘Panic Music’ via Astronaut Recordings

https://www.facebook.com/KiteHQ

LEATHERS Runaway

From Vancouver in British Columbia, ACTORS keyboardist Shannon Hemmett continued with her more synth focussed solo project LEATHERS. Not completely divorced from the main band family, frontman Jason Corbett acts as producer and collaborator, just as Daniel Hunt did with Helen Marnie on her solo work during the LADYTRON hiatus. ‘Runaway’ was gorgeous dreamy synthpop to elope to, “About breaking free and letting go, it provides a pop of color against the mundane routine of everyday life”.

Available on the digital single ‘Runaway’ via Artoffact Records

https://www.facebook.com/leathersmusic

MECHA MAIKO Sunny, Softly (I Feel Love)

Hayley Stewart returned as MECHA MAIKO with ‘NOT OK’ to highlight the various social-political flashpoints that emerged during the pandemic. But focussing on warmer moments and feeling the force of some mighty electro, ‘Sunny, Softly (I Feel Love)’ threw in the iconic throb from the Giorgio Moroder produced Donna Summer hit for a glorious beat driven statement enhanced by an angelic delivery. “There’s a weightlessness to her song that I wanted to have play through the listener’s mind at the same time that they were listening to mine” she said.

Available on the album ‘NOT OK’ via New Retro Wave

https://www.mechamaiko.com/

MINIMAL SCHLAGER Submission

Sister and brother duo MINIMAL SCHLAGER began in 2020 as a consequence of the pandemic. Based between London and Berlin, Alicia Macanás and Francisco Parisi began to develop a brand of synth heavy dreampop. While bubbling with glistening synths, ‘Submission’ was a more of a new wave number with subtle guitar and a rhythmic bounce that set it apart from the other songs on their first album ‘Love, Sex & Dreams’ with an exhilarating chorus is that declares “For a second, I know I can win!”

Available on the album ‘Love, Sex & Dreams’ via Duchess Box Records

https://www.facebook.com/minimalschlager

R.MISSING New Present City

Fronted by enigmatic Sharon Shy, having released some fabulously ethereal singles in the shape of ‘Verónica Pass’, ‘Placelessness’, ‘Saturnining’ and ‘Crimeless’ in the past 18 months, New York-based darklings R. MISSING presented the sinister beauty of ‘New Present City’. In their embracement of the fragility of life with gently propelled soundscapes swathed in icy melancholia, this slice of electronic pop noir fittingly filled a gap left by the now disbanded CHROMATICS.

Available on the digital single ‘New Present City’ via Terminal Echo

https://rmissing.com/

RÖYKSOPP & ALISON GOLDFRAPP Impossible

When RÖYKSOPP released their most recent long playing opus ‘The Inevitable End’ in 2014, it was said to be their final album and made a fine farewell. But after various singles, archive releases and soundtrack commissions, they returned with the ‘Profound Mysteries’ trilogy. Featuring Alison Goldfrapp, the delicious ‘Impossible’ was a mighty avant disco excursion that was both seductive and functional. With the uplifting high soprano middle eight drifting into an intergalactic twist, it could be rightly considered one of the songs of 2022.

Available on the album ‘Profound Mysteries’ via Dog Triumph

http://royksopp.com/

HANNA RUA Light In Your Dark

Swedish songstress Hanna Rua has a dreamy electronic pop sensibility with the emphasis on the pop, but her debut EP ‘Light Up Your Dark’ also demonstrated her scope and capability using darker aesthetics. With a wonderfully gritty austere, the title song played with gothier influences while remaining melodic, coming over like a Nordic NINA in her more recent work. A battle against the demons, the brooding presence recalled unga moderna veterans LUSTANS LAKEJER and their 1999 single ‘Cynisk’.

Available on the EP ‘Light Up Your Dark’ via Aztec Records

https://www.hannarua.com/

SALLY SHAPIRO Fading Away

Although they announced a retirement of sorts in 2016, Swedish duo SALLY SHAPIRO joined the Italian Do It Better family in 2021 to make an unexpected return. ‘Fading Away’ was an epic dance tune to close the ‘Sad Cities’ comeback album. Perhaps unexpectedly originating from an ambient improvisation session, this atmospheric template was merged with a relentless disco synthwave hybrid, utilising a glorious plethora of trancey electronics and thumping rhythms across its seven minutes.

Available on the album ‘Sad Cities’ via Italians Do It Better

https://www.facebook.com/shapirosally

SIN COS TAN Endless

With the bear next door, the title of SIN COS TAN’s fourth album ‘Living In Fear’ resonated with anyone resident in Finland or anywhere in the civilised world; “Do you fear the dark, love, war, or yourself? Whatever the answer, you can be certain: Fear is a powerful thing.” The windswept electro-motorik of ‘Endless’ used the melodic synthy highs of OMD to counter the melancholic expression and drone laden backdrop, acting as a burst of escapist optimism despite surrounding tensions.

Available on the album ‘Living In Fear’ via Solina Records

http://solinarecords.com/sincostan/

SOFT CELL Nighthawks

Originally a Dave Ball instrumental issued as a single that came with the boxed set of his autobiography ‘Electronic Boy’, the tense industrialised pulse of ‘Nighthawks’ recalled the sweaty alternative club overtures of one-time Some Bizzare stable mates CABARET VOLTAIRE. Featuring a deranged expletive laden rap from American drag performance artist Christeene, SOFT CELL fans were even treated to the deep growly voice of Mr Ball himself repeating the title alongside Marc Almond while ‘Staying Alive’ backing vocals provided another counterpoint.

Available on the album ‘*Happiness Not Included’ via BMG

http://www.softcell.co.uk

UNIFY SEPARATE Closure

Documenting a period of personal struggle, the new UNIFY SEPARATE album ‘Music Since Tomorrow’ attempted ‘Closure’ and this epic album opener set the scene with a building atmospheric trance tune that simply mesmerised, especially when front man Andrew Montgomery hit his trademark falsetto. Instrumentalist Leo Josefsson cited influences such as MODERAT, FLOATING POINTS, NITZER EBB, UNDERWORLD and FRONT 242 for the sound while there was also inspiration from the movie ’28 Days Later’.

Available on the album ‘Music Since Tomorrow’ via How Music Group

http://www.unifyseparate.com

BELLA UNWIN Cold Breeze

Bella Unwin has been releasing music since 2018 but this year saw an artistic leap. With shades of Alison Goldfrapp, Hannah Peel and the often forgotten Stella Grundy, the positively feline and angelic ‘Cold Breeze’ was the London-based Aussie’s best song yet. With subtle rhythmic lattices and chattering synthesizer goodness, the additional production and mix by Finlay Shakespeare boosted the punchy and immediate machine funk that was laced with wispy and alluringly coy vocals.

Available on the single ‘Cold Breeze’ via GOTO Records

https://www.facebook.com/bellaunwinmusic

THE WEEKND Less Than Zero

After ‘Blinding Lights’ and ‘Save Your Tears’, THE WEEKND again reminded the mainstream of the emotive beauty that can come from classic synthpop with ‘Less Than Zero’. ‘Less Than Zero’ itself sounded not unlike Michael Jackson produced by Tony Mansfield. The cross of catchy hooks, glorious counter-melodies and acoustic strums were reminiscent of Mansfield’s own combo NEW MUSIK who had UK hits with ‘Living By Numbers’, ‘This World Of Water’ and ‘Sanctuary’ in 1980; Tony Mansfield himself later went on to produce most of A-HA’s debut album ‘Hunting High & Low’.

Available on the album ‘Dawn FM’ via by XO / Republic Records

https://www.theweeknd.com

xPROPAGANDA The Wolves Are Returning

One of the best numbers on the Stephen J Lipson produced ‘The Heart Is Strange’, a stark warning on rise again of the far right was highlighted on ‘The Wolves Are Returning’. Despite its bounce and sonic interventions, the message coming from two Germans whose grandparents’ generation had made the mistake of opening up the door to the Nazis and “did nothing” was poignant. Claudia Brücken and Susanne Freytag provided a worthy follow-up to ‘A Secret Wish’ as xPROPAGANDA.

Available on the album ‘The Heart is Strange’ via ZTT Records

https://www.xpropaganda.co.uk/

A selection of ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s favourite music of 2022 is featured in its ‘Stay Negative To Be Positive’ playlist at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4Mw0Fn10yNZQcrGzod98MM

Text by Chi Ming Lai
12th December 2022

KID MOXIE: The Electric Interview

2 July 2022 /

The EV of Athens-born Elena Charbila, KID MOXIE already has two albums, a soundtrack, numerous EPs and a games commission to her name.

The new album ‘Better Than Electric’ sees KID MOXIE veer to the dark side to explore her love of DEPECHE MODE and THE CURE while also maintaining the dreamier atmospheres showcased on previous releases ‘1888’ and ‘Perfect Shadow’.

Featuring collaborations with FADERHEAD, MAPS and LOST IN STARS, ‘Better Than Electric’ signals a new attitude but retains light within the darkness.

Elena Charbila spoke to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK from her home in Los Angeles about her latest KID MOXIE adventures, the romanticism of goth and an exciting new project that will be sure to turn heads…

You have said that the phrase ‘Better Than Electric’ has been key to conceiving this work, what do you mean by that?

The first song I did for it, ‘Better Than Electric’ with MAPS was done a couple of years ago. We started bouncing files back and forth. When I put the first synth lines on his melody, it was a pun on being struck by lightning in a way, that it feels “better than electric”. But I didn’t understand what it meant, I just knew the feeling was beautiful, loving and connected, but the phrase kept haunting me. Even after I’d completed the song, I was so in love with the concept, that I wanted it to be what the album was about, where every track has a certain sort of feeling but it doesn’t need to 100% make sense. Everything fell into that folder.

So there isn’t a concept?

I didn’t have a specific sound in mind, the album is like a mix tape that I’ve made for a night drive rather than a cohesive work with the same sonic landscape. Somehow, I felt it didn’t matter as they were all night time songs about love and sex, about Los Angeles and that was the common denominator, it’s not like I used a CS80 for everything, it’s not what I cared about.

The title song with MAPS is not a perhaps an indicator of the sound of the album overall and points to something more Lynchian crossed with Roy Orbison, it’s a like a bridge from your previous work to the darker material on this new album?

I guess so although it’s never been in a conscious way, I didn’t think about it that way.

Although your breathy continental style is still present on the album, there is a harder attitude as evidenced on ‘Shine’ and ‘Unbroken’?

That’s when the Germans came in and they made it harder, ‘Shine’ and ‘Unbroken’ are not my regular dreampop. But I was in Hamburg with FADERHEAD who is known for hard hitting electro and I was like “take me by the hand and take me there”, so collaborating with different people brought different colours. With MAPS, we were so dreamy, it was like we were floating on a cloud but with FADERHEAD and his bass, it just grounded me like… I wasn’t even on earth, it was like in the basement with him.

‘Lost In Time’ is another track with a heavier industrial resonance?

Yeah, I did it for the ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ game, that was one of the songs that was on the cutting board and eventually they decided not to use it. I liked the song so much and it didn’t sound like anything else on the album and so different that I decided to put it on there to see how it lives. It’s definitely the hardest hitting techno one!

How do you think the fans of your dreamier material will take to these harder songs?

I don’t know and I can’t control it, but they sound good to me… for anything we do, if we think about how people are going to react to it, it’s just not a good recipe. I never really think how it’s going to be received, I used to but I don’t think that led me down a good path either personally or professionally. I just know that if it makes me happy and I’m proud of it, that’s all really I can control.

So have you turned into ‘Miss Robot’?

Well, there is some android layers in the album, on ‘Shine’ in particular where there’s a fine line between a female sex robot and grooming somebody *laughs*

If we take ‘Miss Robot’ just as a track, it was me bridging the 80s and the 90s sonically, but if you’re asking about the theme of robots, I am fascinated by it because it’s retro-futuristic. Robots at this point are both retro and futuristic. Their depiction in media is super fun… ‘All Is Full Of Love’ by Björk has an iconic video directed by Chris Cunningham where two female robots are making out the whole entire time… that is fascinating to me, it’s all mechanical and precise yet there’s sensuality in it. So as long as there is sensuality to this robot, yeah, I’m down.

You’ve always shown an appreciation for goth bands and you get to go out to play with the appropriately titled ‘At The End Of The Night’?

Originally, I was thinking of doing a darkwave album, ‘At The End Of The Night’ and ‘Black Flower’ were from that; the album was even going to be called ‘Black Flower’ because I’m obsessed with that dark romanticism which is what I think goth is about in my head. They ended up on the album because I felt it was so 80s as well. During the lockdown, although I’m a horrible guitar player, I was playing it more, studying the sound of THE CURE and implementing it on my songs. That’s how ‘At The End Of The Night’ came about, I wanted to copy THE CURE and BAUHAUS and see what it sounded like with my voice.

You don’t have “dreamgoth”, so I thought, let’s do that! So having elements like the starker guitar and the driving bass with a voice like mine which is more ethereal and sweet would create an interesting sonic sandwich.

I was listening to that imperial era of goth during lockdown as well, what’s intriguing about that period of THE CURE, SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES, THE SISTERS OF MERCY and THE MISSION, compared with what people might call modern goth rock, is how melodic it was despite the doom…

I 100% agree, if you think about it, you are not lured into a cave by somebody scary, you’re going to be lured into a cave by somebody attractive… it’s so alluring, the melodies are a vehicle to get you into the darkness and all those bands were genius in doing it that way.

Even BAUHAUS who are not the most melodic out of all of them, I think there is a romance to them that pulls you in, because if it’s all “undead – crucify – let me see you die”, that’s another genre to me… it’s not goth to me, goth is romantic and vampiric, vampires are some of the most romantic figures in literature and cinema. So live and love forever is how I think about goth, or else we are into heavy metal territory and human sacrifices, I’m not into that and I don’t think you are! *laughs*

Talking of heavy metal, what led you to do a cinematic psychedelic synth cover of AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’ with LOST IN STARS? What was your thinking behind the arrangement?

I love covers and I was thinking what one I could do that’s closely associated with male machismo and guitars so that I could strip out all of it and go the other way. ‘Thunderstruck’ to me sounds like teen boy angst like none other, it’s so male and the vocals are so rocking. I wanted a pure antithesis, ‘Thunderstruck’ just felt right. I like that he’s talking about female strippers, so I thought “how f*cking cool would it be for a soft female voice to sing about that? I’d like to hear that so why don’t I do it?”

I get the impression there a lot of liberation and positivity that has come into your life recently, so it’s interesting that you have channelled some more foreboding aesthetics?

It’s doesn’t feel like a conflict to me, because I feel that the darkness which you are perceiving in the videos and music just lives very happily with the sunny side of me, it feels like they are feeding each other. For example, if I don’t feel happy and sunny and free and all that stuff, I cannot really create that dark romantic stuff. My aesthetic is very much in that world and in order for me to pull from that, I need to be feeling great. I’m not one of those artists that work out of their darkness. If I’m feeling depressed, I am handicapped. You’re feeling this darkness and romanticism because I am able to go there without dropping anger in it.

Was ‘Odyssey’ inspired by your Greek heritage at all, it’s also perhaps the song that’s closest to the material on your most recent album proper ‘1888’?

Yes, I never thought about it with regards ‘1888’ because the whole project just felt like a departure without it being a different genre altogether, it’s more of a continuation as ‘1888’ was also a “mixtape” in its way. The title was definitely a reference to my heritage but also to the journey of having to be travelling so far away from home. I was thinking the wonders of that travel that has lasted over 15 years now and the sirens along the way, with people or situations that have taught me and lured me in, some that spat me out and some that put their arms around me.

I’ve never had to talk about it before this but yes, it’s all those things and when a concept like that happens, it definitely feels like word association, a stream of consciousness. So ‘Odyssey’, yes, travel, Odysseus, the siren and that’s how the song happens and freely associating it with more words, more imagery and something concrete to say about it.

‘On A Sunday Night’ is perhaps the most synthwave friendly offering on the album, having been on the fringes of that ‘Drive’ influenced scene, how do you see that musical form progressing?

Synthwave has a special place in my heart in terms of the feelings I have when I hear warm synths. ‘On A Sunday Night’ is one of my 2 or 3 favourite tracks on the album because it does feel very pure and emotive in its theme and sound, it’s very naïve which to me is what I think the 80s and synthwave kind of should be, synthwave is not a sinister genre, it has a nostalgia or retro-futurism… I was around in the 90s and although I was in the 80s for a big chunk, I didn’t actually live it. But I’ve seen images and enough stuff to know that it feels like a magical period.

A friend of mine said about ‘On A Sunday Night’ that it sounded like the 80s but none of the tracks that were written then and I was thinking “that’s exactly what this is”. I wanted to pull from that era which I love so much but filter it through my current sensibilities and aesthetic.

Hip-Hop and Country moves them here in the US but in Europe, synthwave feels way bigger and acts like THE WEEKND and DUA LIPA are bringing in so much synth goodness with their productions that it’s dripping into the mainstream without people really noticing. People respond to synth lines, ‘Blinding Lights’ to me is ‘Take On Me’ by A-HA from the first moment and it feels good, it’s sweet, romantic and jolly, there’s so many layers to it. I don’t know is America is as far ahead as Europe is with synth but it’s being brought in by the big guns, soundtracks and ‘Stranger Things’.

Talking about ‘Stranger Things’, Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ is No1 in the UK and doing very well in the US singles charts…

Kate Bush is one of my all-time favourites, she’s an icon and up there with Roy Orbison who is one of my big influences. The fact that mainstream America and young America is now getting into Kate Bush is so incredible.

What’s interesting is that ‘Running Up That Hill’ is quite arty, it’s not out-and-out pop…

Yeah, it’s not like they’re bringing back ‘Take On Me’, this is an angsty woman-in-chains type of song, so for kids now to love that because it’s on ‘Stranger Things’, I love that!

How do you feel the reception for the ‘Better Than Electric’ album has been?

I’m very happy as a whole, there’s been some good press and the videos have been well received, people seem to get what this is, no-one has said “what the f*ck is this?” although I’m sure someone is saying it somewhere, although I haven’t heard it or read it *laughs*

Basically, I feel pretty good so far but I’m very ambitious and always want more… the more people watch the videos and hear the songs, that makes me happy. Some artists say they don’t care, but I f*cking do, I want this to be big and moving. I want people to be talking about it and listening to it, I didn’t do it to be listening to it with my friends in my living room…

What’s next in the pipeline for you?

I have an album with NINA out later in the year and it’s called ‘Lust Is A Crime’…

‘Better Than Electric’ is released by Pasadena Records as a CD and download, available from
https://kidmoxie.bandcamp.com/

http://www.facebook.com/kidmoxie

https://twitter.com/KIDMOXIEMUSIC

https://www.instagram.com/kid.moxie/

https://kidmoxie.musicmerch.eu/en-gb

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by George Tripodakis
2nd July 2022

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2017 ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK | Email: [email protected]
Privacy Policy

Up ↑