Tag: Single Review: Solstice

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Philadelphia’s Sri Lanka Shares Brooding and Driving “Solstice”

Sri Lanka is a Philadelphia-based band that originally formed back in 1986. The band quickly established a sound that draws from goth and post-punk, as well as elements of alternative rock and psych rock. They saw extraordinary popularity in the Philadelphia and New York underground music scenes of the late 1980s and 1990s before going through a series of tumultuous lineup changes following the departure of founding member and the tragic death of frontman Brett Turner

Suffering from depression, Turner took his own life back in 1989, when he was 20. The band went on to try out several vocalists before landing on Jose Maldonado. And with Maldonado, the Philadelphia-based post punk went on to record and release 1992’s Shadow and Ivy EP and 1993’s Here. Friction between band members Erb and Maldonado started early on and ultimately led to the band splitting down the middle shortly after the release of Here with Erb and Chairs going in one direction, Maldonado and Stein going in another. Rob Studt retired from music altogether.

Erb went on to rejoin his original founding partner Lee Daniels and formed the band [needle] in 1995.

Back in October 2020, the band announced the forthcoming release of Leviathan on their Facebook Fan page, after a 25 year hiatus. And that November, they released the album’s title track “Leviathan.” They also released two live recordings from Christmas 1998 at Philadelphia’s Club Memphis and February 1989 at Philadelphia’s Revival.

Leviathan‘s latest single “Solstice” is a driving bit of goth-tinged post punk featuring shoegazer guitar textures and industrial thump that seemingly channels Cocteau Twins and contemporaries like ACTORS, while showcasing the band’s ability to craft a driving and rousingly anthemic, catchy hook and chorus.

The band explains that “Solstice” was a previously unrecorded song written back in 1991 that may arguably one of the best songs they’ve ever written.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Kennedy One is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and radio show host, who has developed and honed a cinematic take on electronic music. As a ghostwriter, Kennedy One’s material has received airplay globally, as well as placements on film and television. Interestingly, Kennedy One recently stepped out into the limelight as a slo artist with the release of his full-length debut, last year’s Metropolis. 

Thematically, Metropolis‘s material is an introspective journey that tackled the challenges of leaving the past behind in search of something new — most often a path that is often taken alone. Since the release of Metropolis, the rising multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer has been busy: earlier this year, he released the chart topping collaboration with Shelley Harland “Calling You” through Black Hole’s Avanti and he released the Between Two Selves-era Octo Octa meets Tour de France-era Kraftwerk-like “Drive,” a song that manages to evoke late night drives and being hypnotized by the white lines ahead of you.

The rising multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and radio show host’s latest single “Solstice” continues a run of hypnotic house music, centered around glistening synths, tweeter and woofer rocking beats with an expansive yet retro-futuristic arrangement that may draw comparisons to Kraftwerk and others.