Tag: Tempers Unfamiliar

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Tempers Share a Hallucinogenic Visual for Dreamy “Sightseeing”

New York-based synth duo Tempers — Jasmine Golestaneh (vocals) and Eddie Cooper (production) — have diligently carved out their own niche within dark indie, electronica and synth pop circles since their formation. After a series of digital singles released back in 2013, the New York duo began to solidify their sound and approach, a sleek, brooding, nocturnal take on synth pop and dark wave.

The duo’s self-produced album New Meaning is slated for an April 1, 2022 release through Dais Records. As the duo explain, the album is about navigating the unknown, coping mechanisms and exploring the nature of choice. The album’s ten songs reflect on the creation of meaning as a way to access liberation in times of transition and loss while speculating on the transformative potential that exists alongside the grief of living in a world that is an ongoing state of crisis. Much like their previously released material, New Meaning continues a run of nocturnal music, that’s introspective yet quietly intense. 

So far, I’ve written about two of New Meaning‘s previous released singles:

  • “Unfamiliar,” a song that sounded indebted to 80s New Wave while evoking our current moment — living in a world that’s gone even madder and more uncertain than ever before. 
  • “Nightwalking,” a brooding, hook-driven song centered around icy synth arpeggios, thumping beats, a relentless motorik groove and Golestaneh’s achingly plaintive vocals floating off into the ether. The song manages to evoke late nights wandering around with your thoughts as your only company. 

“Sightseeing,” New Meaning‘s latest single is centered around glistening synth arpeggios, thumping kick and Golestaneh’s achingly plaintive and ethereal vocals. And much like its immediate predecessor, the Soft Metals-like “Sightseeing” evokes nocturnal stills through sleeping cities with your own thoughts and regrets, in that liminal space between dreaming and being alert.

“‘Sightseeing’ looks at the thrill and struggle of urban life,” Tempers’ Jamine Golestaneh explains in press notes. “It’s a song about finding meaning by constantly dissolving, renewing, and redefining oneself, amidst the machinery of the city. The video explores how psychic traces left by memory can transform architecture, and animate parallel worlds. It’s also a continuation of an ongoing theme in our work, investigating the relationship between public and private space.”

The accompanying video by Los Angeles-based Clayton McCracken features a hallucinogenic mix of touch designer programming, vintage video technology, 3D animation and live improvisation that focuses on a journey through a city at night. His work predominantly deals with the role of natural forces in virtual environments, utilizing lights, liquids, and vapors to explore themes of entropy and technological impermanence which thematically fit hand in hand with “Sightseeing”. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Tempers Shares Brooding and Icy “Nightwalking”

New York-based synth duo Tempers — Jasmine Golestaneh (vocals) and Eddie Cooper (production) — have diligently carved out their own niche within dark indie, electronica and synth pop circles since their formation. After a series of digital singles released back in 2013, the New York duo began to solidify their sound and approach, a sleek. brooding, nocturnal take on synth pop. 

The duo’s forthcoming, self-produced album New Meaning is slated for an April 1, 2022 release through Dais Records. As the duo explain, the album is about navigating the unknown, coping mechanisms and exploring the nature of choice. The album’s ten songs reflect on the creation go meaning as a way to access liberation in times of transition and loss while speculating on the transformative potential that exists alongside the grief of living in a world that is an ongoing state of crisis. Much like their previously released material, New Meaning continues a run of nocturnal music, that’s introspective yet quietly intense. 

Late last year, I wrote about “Unfamiliar,” a song that sounded indebted to 80s New Wave while evoking our current moment — living in a world that’s gone even madder and more uncertain than ever before. New Meaning‘s second and latest single “Nightwalking” continues a remarkable run of brooding, hook-driven material, with the song centered around icy synth arpeggios, thumping beats, a relentless motorik groove and Golestaneh’s achingly plaintive vocals floating off into the ether. The song manages to evoke late nights wandering around with your thoughts as your only company.

“I took a lot of long walks at a time when people had abruptly vacated NYC, and left the remnants of their homes on the sidewalks,” Tempers’ Golestaneh explains. “The city’s landscape became very surreal – a ghost town turned inside out. I was thinking about how to stay open, and embrace life derailed. The sky over the city was a real source of mystery, in it’s own world of pink sunsets, and sparkling nights. The contrast of that oblivious beauty amidst the pandemic chaos felt very special, and inspired the song.”

The New York-based duo will be embarking on lengthy national tour that includes a March 31, 2022 stop at Elsewhere’s Zone 1. In May, the duo will be in Europe for a handful of dates. But the word on the street is that Tempers will be announcing some more tour dates in the near future. Until then, tour dates, as always, are below.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: New York’s Tempers Release a Brooding and Icy New Single

New York-based synth duo Tempers — Jasmine Golestaneh (vocals) and Eddie Cooper (production) — have diligently carving their own unique niche within dark indie, electronica and synth pop circles since their formation. After a series of digital singles released back in 2013, the New York duo began to solidify their sound and approach, a sleek. brooding, nocturnal take on synth pop.

The duo’s forthcoming, self-produced album New Meaning is slated for an April 1, 2022 release through Dais Records. As the duo explain, the album is about navigating the unknown, coping mechanisms and exploring the nature of choice. The album’s ten songs reflect on the creation go meaning as a way to access liberation in times of transition and loss while speculating on the transformative potential that exists alongside the grief of living in a world that is an ongoing state of crisis. Much like their previously released material, New Meaning continues a run of nocturnal music, that’s introspective yet quietly intense.

New Meaning‘s first single is the brooding “Unfamiliar.” Centered around Golestaneh’s sensual and emotive vocals, glistening synth arpeggios, shimmering and reverb-drenched bursts of guitar, a hypnotic, motorik groove, and an incredibly infectious hook, “Unfamiliar” sounds indebted to 80s New Wave while evoking our current moment — a world gone even madder and uncertain than ever before.

“’Unfamiliar’ explores the idea of progress, and what qualities might be needed to actualise it,” Tempers’ Jasmine Golestaneh explains in press notes. “So often change is just a rebranding of the same structures and conventions, history repeating itself. But also on a personal level, it’s hard not to repeat mistakes, habits are so seductive. I was thinking about the power of liminal space, and how building a tolerance to unfamiliarity might be a revolutionary act.”