JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates Gary Numan’s 68th birthday.
Category: dark wave
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
New Audio: Cardiff’s Red Telephone Share Sleek and Brooding “Sentimental Dreaming”
Cardiff, Wales, UK-based quintet Red Telephone features two sets of brothers, alongside the first full-time drummer in their history. Their debut, a double A-side vinyl was released by Welsh cult label Popty-Ping and received praise from Huw Stephens and Steve Lamacq.
Building upon a rapidly growing profile, the Cardiff-based quintet’s full-length debut, last year’s Hollowing Out, which saw them firmly establishing a blend of psych rock and darkwave, received attention from Clash Magazine, Under The Radar and others, as well as airplay from BBC 6 Music.
The Welsh band’s highly-anticipated sophomore album Delay The New Day is slated for a January 31, 2025 release. The album reportedly sees the quintet building upon their melodic blend of psych and darkwave while also drawing from cinematic influences.
Delay The New Day’s last pre-release single “Sentimental Dreaming” is an arena friendly tune anchored around a propulsive, hypnotic bass line, driving four-on-the-floor, glistening synth arpeggios, ad a brooding bridge paired with incredibly catchy hooks, a rousingly anthemic chorus. Seemingly drawing from Simple Minds, MGMT and 80s post punk, “Sentimental Dreaming” can trace its origins back to a 14 minute acoustic guitar session originally intended to fix the chorus of a different song, but quickly became one of the first songs the band worked on for the album.
The song eventually went through several iterations. including a foray into Robyn-inspired pop before finding its final version in a spontaneous late-night studio session. “We started listening back to practice recordings of all the different versions we’d attempted and there was this one phone recording with this really rhythmic, catchy bassline by Dom,” the band’s Declan recalls. “We were basically recording it ten minutes later on the fly and didn’t leave the studio until about 2am. There was definitely some late-in-the-day chaos as we scrambled to get it over the line, but it added a different energy & even brought about one of Kieran’s favourite guitar parts on the album, which he put down off the cuff going into the outro almost in some jaded desperation to get it done.”
Thematically, the song focuses on the trials and tribulations of contemporary artists, touching upon the gaping chasm between romanticized versions of creative pursuits and the bitterly harsh realities of chasing one’s artistic dreams, including the exhausting juggling act of day jobs and creativity, the bombardment of conflicting advice on achieving success and more. The song subtly touches on the self-doubt, unease, paranoia and determination that it takes to make it in any creative field — especially music. But it also touches on refusing to compromise on one’s artistic vision, and the mentality needed to keep creating for the right reasons.
“There’s obviously this idealistic sentimentality in dreaming – it almost sounds like a sweet, harmless thing to do – but it’s deceptively powerful, because it can send us down paths that end up dictating not only behaviour but entire periods of our lives and ways of living,” Dom says.
Cardiff, Wales, UK-based quintet Red Telephone features two sets of brothers, alongside the first full-time drummer in their history. Their debut, a double A-side vinyl was released by Welsh cult label Popty-Ping and received praise from Huw Stephens and Steve Lamacq.
Building upon a rapidly growing profile, the Cardiff-based quintet’s full-length debut, last year’s Hollowing Out, which saw them firmly establishing a blend of psych rock and darkwave, received attention from Clash Magazine, Under The Radar and others, as well as airplay from BBC 6 Music.
The Welsh band’s highly-anticipated sophomore album Delay The New Day is slated for a January 31, 2025 release. The album reportedly sees the quintet building upon their melodic blend of psych and darkwave while also drawing from cinematic influences.
Delay The New Day’s last pre-release single “Sentimental Dreaming” is an arena friendly tune anchored around a propulsive, hypnotic bass line, driving four-on-the-floor, glistening synth arpeggios, ad a brooding bridge paired with incredibly catchy hooks, a rousingly anthemic chorus. Seemingly drawing from Simple Minds, MGMT and 80s post punk, “Sentimental Dreaming” can trace its origins back to a 14 minute acoustic guitar session originally intended to fix the chorus of a different song, but quickly became one of the first songs the band worked on for the album.
The song eventually went through several iterations. including a foray into Robyn-inspired pop before finding its final version in a spontaneous late-night studio session. “We started listening back to practice recordings of all the different versions we’d attempted and there was this one phone recording with this really rhythmic, catchy bassline by Dom,” the band’s Declan recalls. “We were basically recording it ten minutes later on the fly and didn’t leave the studio until about 2am. There was definitely some late-in-the-day chaos as we scrambled to get it over the line, but it added a different energy & even brought about one of Kieran’s favourite guitar parts on the album, which he put down off the cuff going into the outro almost in some jaded desperation to get it done.”
Thematically, the song focuses on the trials and tribulations of contemporary artists, touching upon the gaping chasm between romanticized versions of creative pursuits and the bitterly harsh realities of chasing one’s artistic dreams, including the exhausting juggling act of day jobs and creativity, the bombardment of conflicting advice on achieving success and more. The song subtly touches on the self-doubt, unease, paranoia and determination that it takes to make it in any creative field — especially music. But it also touches on refusing to compromise on one’s artistic vision, and the mentality needed to keep creating for the right reasons.
“There’s obviously this idealistic sentimentality in dreaming – it almost sounds like a sweet, harmless thing to do – but it’s deceptively powerful, because it can send us down paths that end up dictating not only behaviour but entire periods of our lives and ways of living,” Dom says.
New Audio: STOLEN Shares Dystopian Anthem “I-Generated”
Formed back in 2010, STOLEN is a pioneering and award-winning, Chengdu, China-based electronica quintet that specializes in a high-energy, dance floor friendly sound that features elements of techno, darkwave and post-punk.
Since the release of their full-length debut, 2015’s Loop, the Chinese outfit has built an international profile: Through collaborations with renowned brands like Hermés, Burberry and BMW, they’ve managed to merge their unique sound with current fashion trends. And adding to a growing international profile, they opened for New Order during the British New Wave legends’ 2019 European Union tour.
2024 has been a busy year for the Chinese outfit: Earlier this year, they released the Remanufactured EP, which featured the slow-burning and brooding “Drown With Me,” a song that reminded me ab it of Trentemøller’s “A Different Light” and Goldfrapp’s Tales of Us.
Their second EP of the year, the recently released, three-song effort, I-Generated is a journey into the world of AI. Each track is a separate chapter in the story, with each song focusing on three different moments in AI’s history. Sonically, the EP features a much more electronic sound, driven by catchy keyboard melodies and subtle guitar work.
The EP’s first single, EP opening track “I-Generated” is a Nine Inch Nail-meets-Tool-meets-Rush-like ripper featuring driving rhythms, glitchy bursts of electronics, oscillating synths, rousingly anthemic, shout along worthy hooks, arena rock friendly power chords. It’s the sort of song that sounds as though it would fit perfectly within the universe of The Matrix or some near-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller that closely misers or our seemingly dystopian world.
The song’s lyrically talks about present-day humanity in seeming free-fall, about to put its fate in the hands of AI as a desperate, last resort. Both lyrically and musically, the song evokes the hope and unease that we all feel at this particular moment.