In the four plus years that I’ve run JOVM, i’ve increasingly received a number of emails from folks located in some rather far-flung locales – and I think it suggests that my own mission of covering and presenting a variety of artists from all across the world makes sense. 

I recently heard from the Auckland, New Zealand-based electronic artist Suren Unka. who released his debut effort, El Chupacabra back in April. His latest single, “Golden Town” was originally written for a live set at the Rhythm and Vines Festival (New Zealand), and after the composition’s completion. Unka recruited an artist by the name of Gaia to write and sing lyrics over beats.

The song pairs cascading layers of 80s synths, hot flashes of cymbals with soulful vocals that express as the songwriter herself has publicly mentioned “a fear of the unknown.” Just underneath the hazily shimmering and futuristic synths is a sense of anxious dread mixed with wonder that’s palpable. 

The official video for the song, produced by Waveform was partially influenced by the short stories of J.G. Ballard, which often include colorful organisms and mega-structures – strange environments are just part of the norm to the characters that Ballard wrote. Along with Candlelit Pictures, they developed a video treatment that focused on a sleek minimalist look in a very sci-fi world. Illustrator Adam Tan created the creatures that suddenly come to life, giving the the video a bit of wonder to balance out the anxious dread.