Following the cult acclaim for her second album ‘Arcana’, CZARINA returns with a dark electro take on alternative rock band A PERFECT CIRCLE’s 2004 single ‘The Outsider’.
Pushing the song into a more baroque Gothic direction which manages to caress and ravage vocally, there are hints of DEPECHE MODE and THE CURE in the synthesized filmic arrangement, particularly in the stringy resonances of the latter’s ‘Lullaby’. The track will be part of the ‘Sacred Geometry: A Tribute to A PERFECT CIRCLE’ tribute compilation by Coitus Interruptus Productions who also put together the JAPAN tribute album ‘Still Life In Polaroids’ on which CZARINA featured.
Based in the Spanish region Galicia facing both the Atlantic Ocean and the Cantabrian Sea, New Yorker Vero Faye Kitsuné, who makes her art under the imperial nom de théâtre of CZARINA, takes her more recent mystical inspiration from her relocation, projecting the vast landscape with a cosmic presence in her visual presentations.
CZARINA chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about the making of ‘The Outsider’ and its impressive video which was made with her husband / creative partner DeadlyKawaii under their two-man production umbrella The Kitsunés on a limited budget…
What inspired you darkly synth up A PERFECT CIRCLE’s ‘The Outsider’?
The original track and performance are so iconic of A PERFECT CIRCLE, of Maynard James Keenan and of that particular era in music that it is hallowed ground. (The song and their record, ‘Thirteenth Step’, just turned 20 years old!)
I have to carefully dissect, deconstruct the composition and arrangements, and then drastically rebuild without deviating from the original chord structure and vocal melodies. My goal was to give the song my own perspective, spin and dynamic qualities, without repeating what was already done, and bring it to a very different and unique space through a new set of lens. During production, a lot of my other influences also came to mind in the process. There’s a bit of THE CURE, Siouxsie and Kate Bush vibes in there.
But I didn’t set out to do just a darkwave or synth pop version. I wanted to push my production and performance while maintaining the song’s gripping intensity – especially the visceral anger – but also give it an otherworldly, enigmatic atmosphere that feels ancient – almost like “a call from home” or “return to senses” type of thing. It was fun writing and integrating the string section, the choir and a new piano / synths topline melody against the arps and the heavy drums which I kept in that dark alternative / epic rock style of performance along with the vocals.
The original was driven by Billy Howerdel’s guitars so I felt it was only proper to throw in a very brief Phrygian mode guitar performance. The mix of various elements gave the song some new facets and dimension. As there were a lot of layers and parts going on at the same time (typical with most of my production work), my co-producer, mixing and mastering engineer, Von Hertzog (VHxRR, INFORMATION SOCIETY) had to dial in all the moving parts in analog to get that wide full range in dynamics. He gave the mix some massive cojonés. The result felt like a whole different world emerged from the core of the original song itself.
The video is suitably picturesque, mystical and uses drones, how did you come up with the concept?
I wanted to give the song a different meaning as to how it relates in a larger scale. We wanted to paint the visuals with a bit of nostalgic, cosmic fantasy and color – make it fun yet thoughtful. DeadlyKawaii and I created this alien, celestial world using all the surreal, beautiful surroundings available to us here in our home in Costa Da Morte, Galicia and convey the song from the view point of a true, yet curious and playful “Outsider” in the form of a dark astral entity looking in and pondering over humanity (or perhaps, another hopeless race of intelligent yet terribly misguided beings entering final stages of its cosmic cycle and really screwing things up in their home planet.)
We see this Outsider see truth, come to full realization, absorb and charge up some power to initiate the final act of judgement and become the source of destruction – not necessarily out of anger or contempt, but rather out of duty in the cycle of Creation as Karmic messenger and deliverer. We wanted the final performance to carry a tinge of sadness while delivering the final death blow.
When I was writing the treatment, I was focusing on the lyrics “You’re pounding on a fault line” and how it relates to stories of Judgement in esoteric mysticism. Some of these tales are echoed within video games I loved playing during my youth like the ‘Final Fantasy’ series (FF7 is my favorite) where humanity is being challenged to take action to prove their worth and turn things around or face demise in the form of “the terror from the skies” or a great tempest and deluge.
We wanted to exhibit the elements borrowed from this particular mix of ancient and modern sources and share our own thoughts on how society has created and long maintained unsustainable, destructive and hurtful systems in constant pursuit of decadence that would be responsible for fast-tracking humanity’s eventual death along with the planet and all creatures. Hence the question, “What would it take to get thru to you, precious?”. We see ripples of consequences cascading now with all the destruction by various forces of nature happening simultaneously in different parts of the world due to climate change. The video is trying to give that message and reminder a signal boost even though it is probably too late.
You recently did a cover of ‘Halloween’ for the JAPAN tribute album ‘Still Life In Polaroids’, is there a spiritual link with ‘The Outsider’ at all?
Both songs vividly paint and articulate the heightened emotions of emotional and mental crises and distress behind relationship breakdowns. Though JAPAN’s ‘Halloween’ was more painterly, atmospheric and cryptic in its writing, whereas A PERFECT CIRCLE’s ‘The Outsider’ was direct, aggressive and confrontational, I find both songs together emote the movements and reverberations of the painful fight for love, the weight of attachment and the despair that comes with eventual loss in full spectrum- from realization, hurt, anger, trauma to healing, self-reflection, and ultimately, acceptance, resignation and resolve. Both writers seem to urge us to feel the feels, but also look at ourselves deeply in the mirror, purge, release and transmute pain and move forward towards a higher direction. As long as we know how to navigate and move forward, we will always be ok.
Your 2022 album ‘Arcana’ attracted some critical acclaim in the independent online press, how do you look back on the making of it and its reception?
I’m overjoyed and humbled that the record resonated. ‘Arcana’ gave me the affirmation to always follow my gut and stay true and authentic to the vision and what I want to do. Von and I often talk about how the record pushed both of us, and we got somewhere new and vast. My own production is often huge, hairy and monstrous: multi-layered with lots of instruments – synths, orchestral and electronic parts on top of dynamic vocals. That’s just my natural inclination when I write and produce music. And Von is like the mad scientist who figures out how to balance and make the layered harmonics work thru various analogue mixing and mastering techniques to get to that giant, expansive range. I felt like we did something new and rare and I finally got to a sound I can call my own. It’s like opening a new portal and we had to crack several codes to get to it. The process was challenging but incredibly rewarding and exciting in the end. I’m very excited to work on the next one and see how this project evolves further in its own universe.
What’s next for CZARINA, live and recording wise?
I’ll be performing at European Dark Dance Treffen in Mannheim in November, which I’m excited for! My first time to play Germany and a gothic fest. I am closing the Arcana chapter of this project with one final music video dropping mid-December for the track ‘The Fox’s Wedding’. It is immediately followed by a really fun collab with a video game-inspired music video with my DarkTunes label boss, Extize, coming end of December. My third album is also now in the works which I hope to release sometime in 2024, along with more tour and festival dates here in the EU.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to CZARINA
‘The Outsider’ is released by darkTunes Music Group as a digital single on the usual platforms, available from https://czarinaofficial.bandcamp.com/
European Dark Dance Treffen takes place 16 – 19 November 2023, the line-up includes CZARINA, BLUETENGEL, COVENANT, DAS ICH, BOYTRONIC + many more, tickets available from https://helterskelter.ticketshop.live/EDDT-2023/
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”.
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.
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
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
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.”
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
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.
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.
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
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
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
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
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.”
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.
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
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”.
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
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
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
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!”
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.
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.
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’.
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
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.
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.
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’.
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
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
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.
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