Category: dark wave

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Modern Ideas Shares Glistening “This Is How It Hurts”

Modern Ideas is a Melbourne/Naarm-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, who specializes in dark synth pop rooted in a belief that pop isn’t about perfection, but transformation. In particular, our power to change shape, to become new forms, to have new feelings and new identities.

Drawing from 80s synth pop and contemporary darkwave, Modern Ideas’ is anchored around a simple conceit: Although modern life may be artificial, within that artifice lies the possibility of something beautiful, strange and new.

The Aussie synth pop project’s latest single “This Is How It Hurts” serves as the perfect introduction to its overall sound and approach. Built around glistening analog synths, a tight, skittering four-on-the-floor paired with an understated yet aching vocal and a remarkably catchy hook, “This Is How It Hurts” seemingly channels Depeche Mode, New Order and TR/ST while anchored around a spacious and clean, modern production.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Velatine Shares Forceful “Whisper Park”

Melbourne-based songwriter and producer Loki Lockwood is the creative mastermind behind the darkwave/goth recording project Velatine. For the bulk of Velatine’s history, Lockwood collaborated with different vocalists while crafting a unique and fresh take on the familiar and beloved darkwave/goth sound.

If you were frequenting this site over the course of last year, the Aussie producer and musician collaborated with Nocturna on “Till Death Do We Art” and Holly Purnell, who was discovered through an Instagram ad for “Oh See Me — The Siren.” While working on “Oh See Me — The Siren” Purnell joined Velatine as the project’s full-time vocalist.

Velatine’s latest single “Whisper Park” is a subtle change in sonic direction, seeing the band leaning more towards a forceful, goth and doom-like direction than their previously released material. Anchored around slashing, angular guitar attack and dramatic drumming, the cinematic “Whisper Park” channels contemporary fare like Bonnie Trash and others, while showcasing Purnell’s remarkable vocal.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy Belated 68th Birthday, Gary Numan!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates Gary Numan’s 68th birthday.

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Fantôme Paradis Shares CInematic “Ámes sœurs”

Fantôme Paradis is the synth wave/darkwave recording projecting of a mysterious and emerging French producer. The mysterious French producer’s latest single “Âmes sœurs” features glistening synth arpeggios, tweeter and woofer rattling thump as a lush bed for a yearning, female French vocal.

Sonically nodding at a synthesis of The Weeknd and John Carpenter soundtracks, “Âmes sœurs” according to the mysterious French producer explores a relationship in crisis, caught in an uneasy conflict between devotion and hatred.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: BLXCKFLAMINGO Tackles a Beloved Post-Punk Classic

BLXCKFLAMINGO is a Jersey City-based goth/darkwave duo, who over the course of the past year have released a handful of singles, which saw them quickly establish an urgent and intense sound featuring driving drum machines, thumping ass lines, ethereal shoegazer textures and pain-fueled riffs paired with an eerily cold and brooding baritone vocal.

The New Jersey-based duo begin 2026 with a goth/darkwave-tinged yet lovingly straightforward cover of Joy Division‘s 1980 signature tune, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” that maintains the song’s conflicted, heartache and remarkably catchy hook.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: La Femme Co-Founder Marlon Magnée Returns with Broodingly Cinematic “People Are Afraid”

Marlon Magnée, the co-founder of the acclaimed, French psych outfit and JOVM mainstay act La Femme is stepping out in the spotlight as a solo artist with his debut solo album, the Renaud Letang co-produced Dark Star, which is slated for a March 6, 2026 release through Disque Pointu.

As a member of La Femme, Magnée has earned numerous accolades including Album Révélation of the Year at the Victories de la Musique Awards and multiple RIAA Certified Gold records. He has played sets on some of the world’s biggest and most important stages, including Accor Hotel Arena, Zénith, Glastonbury, Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza and Osheaga. 

After 15 years recording, releasing music and touring the world as a member of La Femme, Magnée’s solo debut reportedly sees the La Femme co-founder reconnecting to his earliest passions. The album reflects his long-held taste for unusual blends and singular styles — with lyrics sung in both French and English.

The result is a breakneck, restless, sometimes radical music, conceived “for those with blood in their hearts and the urge to fight back.” 

Recorded at Paris‘ legendary Ferber Studios, Dark Star is an oddball, frenzied collision of shadow and light with songs that wrestle with one’s darkest impulses, bad mushroom trips, ayahuasca-fueled revelations, limerence, overwhelming romantic love, family love and self-sabotage. Sonically, the album draws from 60s guitars, an “orgy of synths” from the 80s, pounding drum machines, analog delays and a deliberately raw energy, that sees the La Femme co-founder blending punk rockabilly, punk and coldwave. 

Late last year, I wrote about album single “Plus Fort Que Toi.” which featured a  J.F. Julian-directed accompanying video that playfully drew from 50s rockabilly and rock tropes shot in sunny California.

Dark Star‘s third and latest single “People Are Afraid” is a broodingly cinematic take on 80s darkwave, anchored around an eerily atmospheric motorik pulse and skittering goth-inspired beats, a scorching guitar solo and Magnèe’s long-held, unerring knack for catchy hooks. According to the La Femme co-founder, “People Are Afraid” was inspired by The Stranglers, although I hear a bit of Pleasure Principle-era Gary Numan and Trans Europe Express-era Kraftwerk.

Directed by Magnée and filmed in Tokyo by Sam Quealy, the accompanying video for “People Are Afraid” follows a Dick Tracy/spy-like Magnée strutting down the quiet and lonely late night streets and in a phone booth. But there’s more than meets the eye here. The La Femme co-founder has some secret super powers.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Low Blows Shares Brooding and Forceful “Vacio”

Barcelona-based trio Low Blows — Carlos Vergara (vocals, bass), Andrés Silgado (guitar) and Rubén Carballo (drums) — quickly established a sound that draws from post-punk, industrial, New Wave and darkwave with electric elements and a hint of shoegaze with their full-length debut, 2020’s Cruel.

The Spanish post-punk outfit followed Cruel’s release with a handful of singles, including last year’s Matteo Vallicelli-produced “Go!” The trio also played at OMBRA Festival.

Building upon a growing profile, the trio just released their sophomore, self-titled studio album. The album showcases a new creative phase by the Spanish trio, marked by greater restraint, sonic clarity and artistic cohesion with material that sees the band effortlessly blending post punk and darkwave paired with introspective lyrics. And it’s all anchored by a tension between rawness and sensitivity.

The band says that their sophomore album was conceived as an exercise in reaffirming identity and a point of synthesis between their previous path and a more defined, conscious vision of their artistic present.

The sophomore album’s lead single “Vacio” is a brooding and forceful bit of post-punk featuring an insistent rhythmic pulse and fuzzy guitars paired with an angular, New Order-like bass line, bursts of shimmering synths. While sounding as though it could be a part of the Dedstrange Records catalog — and as though it could have been released during 4AD Records heyday.

“Vacio,” as the band explains works as a statement of intent. “The song explores feelings of absence, disconnection and emotional exhaustion through a direct, no-frills approach. Musically, it leans into a cleaner, more minimalist production with an insistent rhythmic pulse and an enveloping atmosphere that carries the track’s emotional weight,” the band says.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Italy’s Coldtrace Shares Broodingly Atmospheric “Reasons 1”

Coldtrace is a mysterious and emerging Italian post punk band, who released their debut EP, Shadows last month.

Shadows EP‘s latest single “Reasons 1” is a brooding bit of post punk, featuring angular and propulsive bass line, relentless four-on-the-floor, shimmering, bursts of reverb-soaked guitars paired with a dramatic baritone vocal. While showcasing the band’s ability to pair chilly atmospherics with razor sharp hooks, “Reasons 1” seemingly channels the likes of Cocteau Twins, Molchat Doma and others.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: White Birches Share Brooding and Stormy “Breathing”

Formed back in 2013, the Swedish synth pop/darkwave duo White Birches — Jenny Gabrielsson Mare and Fredrik Jonasson — quickly received attention across Scandinavia with the release of 2014’s debut EP Stands of White Birches and 2015’s full-length debut, Dark Waters, which saw the pair establishing a eerily moody sound that some compared to the likes Depeche Mode, Cocteau Twins and The Sisters of Mercy. Adding to a growing profile across the region, the duo’s full-length debut received a Best Synth nomination at that year’s Swedish Indie Grammy Awards, Manifestgalan.

The duo signed with Progress Productions, who released their sophomore album, 2017’s When The Street Calls, which featured the 4AD Records heyday-like “Howl.”

The Swedish synth outfit’s highly-anticipated third full-length album, A New Reign will feature their latest single “Breathing,” which the pair says sets the tone for the entire album. Featuring thunderous, industrial-like thump, layers of eerily atmospheric synths and bursts of scorching feedback as a brooding and stormy bed for Gabrielsson Mare’s dreamily intense delivery.

“Breathing,” captures a narrator, desperately holding on to a thin thread of what might be left of their sanity, and under intense pressure, trying to take long, slow breaths to get themselves right; to get their mind and heart to stop racing . . . It shouldn’t be surprising that the song might evoke how unsettled, unstable and desperate you might feel right this moment. Keep breathing.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: Velatine Teams Up with Holly Purnell on Brooding “Oh See Me — The Siren”

Loki Lockwood is a Melbourne-based songwriter and producer and creative mastermind behind the darkwave/goth recording project Velatine, which for the bulk of is history saw him crating a unique and fresh take on a familiar and beloved sound through experimenting and working with different vocalists.

Earlier this year, the Aussie producer and musician collaborated with Nocturna on the slow-burning and broodingly cinematic “Till Death Do We Art.” But with Lockwood’s latest Velatine single, “Oh See Me — The Siren,” the Melbourne-based musician and producer collaborates with Holly Purnell, who was discovered through an Instagram ad seeking a vocalist and then recruited to be the project’s full-time vocalist.

On “Oh See Me — The Siren,” Purnell’s remarkably Siouxsie Sioux-like vocal is paired with a brooding and glitchy industrial-meets-post-punk production that continues to showcase Lockwood’s unerring knack for catchy hooks.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Dream Bodies Shares Shimmering, Brooding, and Dance Floor Friendly “Circle of Light”

Steven Fleet is a Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist, poet, writer and artist, who has been in several music projects that have allowed him to play shows across the US, the UK, Germany and the Czech Republic. He is also the creative mastermind behind the solo recording project Dream Bodies. With Dream Bodies, Fleet crafts “witchy, dreamy, gothy, post punk, dream pop, cold wave with poetic, philosophical lyrics.” 

The Los Angeles-based artist’s recently Dream Bodies debut EP, Circle of Light features the previously released “Dream Hangover,” and the EP’s latest single, EP title track “Circle of Light,” a dance floor friendly bit of post punk/coldwave featuring skittering beats, squiggling, reverb-drenched guitars and broodingly atmospheric synths serving as a dark yet lush bed for Fleet’s sonorous baritone.

Fleet explains that the song’s lyrics focus on occult themes, and a liminal space between light and darkness, life and death. This new single, along with its predecessor helps introduce Fleet’s mystical, occult oeuvre.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: Velatine Teams Up with Nocturna on Brooding and Cinematic “Till Death We Do Art”

Melbourne-based songwriter and producer Loki Lockwood is the creative mastermind behind the darkwave/goth recording project Velatine, which sees him crafting a unique and fresh take on a familiar and beloved sound. In fact, with Velatine, Lockwood is unafraid to experiment and works with different vocalists while weaving aspects from goth, Darkwave, post-punk and industrial music.

His latest single “Till Death We Do Art” feat. Nocturna is a slow-burning, and brooding bit of goth-tinged post punk which features Nocturna’s Anika-meet-Nico-like delivery paired with layers of eerie synths, bursts of strummed guitar and cinematic strings. “Till Death Do We Art” may arguably be the most cinematic-leaning post punk song I’ve heard in sometime, while showcasing Lockwood’s penchant for catchy and anthemic hooks.

Lockwood explains that “Till Death We Do Art” is for the creatives of the world, focusing on the highs and lows creative endure while following their muses. He adds that the song is dedicated to a Ukrainian painter named Ksenia, who regularly shared Velatine’s music with posts featuring her art on Instagram before the project was on the platform. He got to know her a little through the site, but because he’s an Australian, who is often far from any sort of violent conflict, it was the first time he knew someone living in the middle of war.

“Having that ever present threat as part of your life, disruption to normality, what we take for granted here and the devastation of losing her lover I found her often in my thoughts. If I didn’t see her post, I’d check to see if she was alive.” He adds that song was largely written before all of this but the chorus wasn’t there. One time, he checked in on Ksenia on Instagram and her instagram tag “Till Death We Do Art” jumped out of him. He was convinced that was the missing piece that summed up the emotion of the song. ” I’d read these words before on her page but this time I saw them in a new light, I knew immediately where they also belonged. Everything fell into place and the last lines, “we’re upset by war, and worry for them all” are for her,” he explains.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Freddi Rituali Shares Brooding and Icy “Giulia che balla”

Formed back in 2023, Italian synth pop/coldwave duo Freddi Rituali — Diego Ballani (vocals) and Marco Tosetti (guitar, synths, programming) — features two, grizzled Italian scene veterans: After spending 20 years in Italian power pop outfit Made, Ballani and Tosetti decided to start a music project largely inspired by 80s British synth pop, Italian New Wave groups like Diaframma and Germany’s CCCP, as well as contemporaries like JOVM mainstays The Vacant Lots and acclaimed Belarusians Molchat Doma. 

Last year, the duo released their self-titled debut EP and the EP featured the Flock of Seagulls-like “Per ridere di te,” which saw the Italian duo pairing glistening and icy synth arpeggios, mathematically precise, skittering beats with angular bursts of shimmering, reverb-soaked guitar, catchy hooks and Ballani’s earnest, emotive delivery.

In fact, for Anglophones, “Per ridere de ti,” may open up an alternate pop universe that sounds intimately familiar yet alien — but as infectious and as danceable as ever.

The duo began their 2025 with the release of a small batch of standalone singles that includes their latest single “Guilia che balla,” a brooding bit of minimalist coldwave featuring Ballani’s plaintive vocals singing introspective and Romantic lyrics over an icy synth soundscape that brings Molchat Doma and others to mind.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Alain Void Shares 80s Synth Pop-Inspired “Roba de pecore”

Italian electronic musician and producer Alain Void emerged into the synthwave/electro pop scene back in 2022 with his solo recording project, Empty Essence, which meshed elements of post-punk, electro pop and darkwave with lyrics that tackle philosophical themes.

Over the past year, Void stepped out into the spotlight as a solo artist, writing and recording under his own name. He was inspired by the need to spread awareness and awaken consciences through music.

His latest single “Roba de pecore” brings Violator-era Depeche Mode to mind with Void’s Dave Gahan-like vocal being paired with glistening synth arpeggios, thumping beats and some remarkably catchy hooks.

The accompanying video is a gorgeously cinematic shot, black and white fever dream.