Synth EP Review: “Runaway Heart” by K.A.R.R and JJ Mist

by Karl Magi

K.A.R.R and JJ Mist’s “Runaway Heart” takes listeners on a journey into dramatic emotion and tales of love and loss accompanied by retrowave energy and driven by JJ Mist's incredibly impassioned performance and the producer's skillful synthesizer work and guitar playing. I'm swept away by the stories that fill the music and transport me to their world.

“Runaway Heart” establishes itself as a classically punchy ‘80s drum beat kicks in and wind sweeps as a brilliant synth dances with a positive sparkle while the low end drives forward energetically. JJ Mist’s soulful voice carries the melody, which combines desire and a sense of loss while the low end jumps.

A glimmering synth shines with dynamic uplift as the chorus erupts with intensity and need while the track pushes forward. JJ Mist’s voice is full of ‘80s energy in a way I completely appreciate. The entire song is explosive and shimmering as it unfolds.

Kurt Aquilina’s guitar cries out with an intricate solo that shreds and flies with uncontained wildness. JJ Mist belts out the chorus with irrepressible strength as intertwining synth pours out crystalline light and the guitar snarls. As the song comes to an end, the vocals burst with intensity.

Our narrator says that she’s spending another night alone in which she can’t get the song’s subject out of her head. She talks about “taunting words unsaid” as she tries to forget her “mysterious lover, secret of the night.” She can’t keep the other person in her sights and wonders where they’ll go that night. She adds, “Every step I take, I’m always one second too late.”

The storyteller asks, “Runaway heart, where do you go?” since the other person makes her chase after them, so she never knows. When their relationship started, she says, “You gave me all your love, I had you figured out.” There turned out to be no rules to follow because the song’s subject is “playing your own game.” She says her love has been wasted but she doesn’t want to walk away.

Our narrator concludes that her heart breaks with each step and says, “Runaway heart, you keep moving fast. I’m holding on, I need to know if this will last.”

Like a late night reminiscence “Last Hope” grows with steady light across the soundscape with a guitar adding a hint of golden energy and the base undulating with reassuring solidity for support. Contemplative remembrance fills JJ Mist's performance, driven by the drum and bass pulse.

Kurt Aquilina’s guitar accents the performance with earnestness before the vocals reach out again, offering hope for the future and a chance to move forward with love. As the clean, sharp underlying heartbeat shifts, profound emotion draws me into the mood of the lyrics. An atmosphere of affection and unending commitment permeates JJ Mist’s vibrant vocals as the foundation presses on.

The chorus flies as a free-wheeling tonal pattern unfolds with impassioned expression, propelled by massive low end weight. A guitar solo erupts with blazing strength, lifting to spin out a complex line, mingling joy and reminiscence before JJ Mist takes us home with her charged delivery.

After being given "hope in your heart with no intention to harm" and a surfeit of love, the storyteller was seeking a place to be grounded from storms passing through life. She adds, "soon this will be over and there will be some closure" and despite having been left cold, love will bring them nearer.

Stating that, "I'll keep this spark alive, hold on to hope and never let it die" our narrator refuses to quit the fight and asks the song's subject to hold on tight and realize that it's their last hope tonight. She continues, "you suffer with blood on your hands and a conscience that won't let you sleep and can't understand."

However the storyteller points out that she'll "hold you until the day's new, leave the past at the door as we walk on through." The worst will soon be over and she concludes, "home will bring us closer, there is not much longer, together we’ll be stronger. "

“Heaven” slides into life with a liquid smoothness and laid back sensations balanced with trickling tones and crystalline chimes which move in a tranquil pattern, summoning late night chill and sensuality in equal measure. JJ Mist’s voice is like silk and lace, wrapping the listener in a cloak of exhilarating emotion as the synth evokes desire and attraction.

Kurt Aquilina’s guitar strokes my ears with jazzy heat while JJ Mist captures overwhelming need and a blazing want for the other person. The beat is easy going and the way in which the vocals encapsulate the thrill within the lyrics pulls me into the spirit of the song.

A fountain of glittering energy interweaves with the guitar solo that slips out with fiery attraction and a feeling of closeness and burning touch that is undeniably engaging. The vocals slip around my ears and enchant me. Any flow of attraction, the song slips to a conclusion with midnight attraction.

Aching with attraction, the narrator says "I want to feel under the skin, let's explore together, get lost in the heat" as she craves to kiss the song's subject, "make this last forever and get close to heaven." She adds that she wants to "love every inch of your body" as the other person gives in to her.

Telling the song’s subject that there's "no need to be shy, I'm all yours tonight," our storyteller wants the other person to "give in to all the pleasure and get close to heaven." She goes on to say that when it's just the two of them "it's ecstasy when we touch." In conclusion, she says "give into the moment, given to my love cause I can be what you dream of."

Like street lights flashing past at night as a synth interlocks with a jumping beat to give “I Can See” a start as the dynamic guitar unfurls a melody full of midnight energy and the clapping percussion gives another layer of speed. Complexity and irrepressible life swirls from the lead synth and JJ Mist's voice catches melancholy sameness before hope and uplift are joined by the flying guitar.

The drums and bass are tinged with positive energy as JJ Mist surfs the feelings. Aching emotion is relieved by the possibility of a night full of happiness and encouragement while chimes flash with warming brightness and the vocals grab me with their unadulterated freedom.

Each musical element erupts with feelings of release and forward motion, supported by Kurt Aquilina’s guitar which transmits a solo that is liberating and complex, spinning out a tale of positivity before the vocals carry the song to a conclusion.

Thinking that she takes the same route every day, crossing the same streets, our storyteller says "at the shallow depth so I made my bed, I'm wondering why it feels so sad." As the sun sets, she adds, "I can see through the night, gotta lift my heart and break through. “

"Breaking chains that hold us tight, fighting madness we hit light" the narrator points out that she can live, see and feel now that "the night lies ahead when the sun goes to bed." On another day, she wakes up and feels "the weight of all the thoughts that I have tried to shake."

Each mirror our storyteller glances in shows her tired face, looking for somewhere better. She continues, "voices fade now, I can hear what's right " as a spark burns through and she's "breaking chains that make us tight, fighting madness." Once again she can live, see and feel with the night laying ahead.

To conclude, the narrator says she’s "breaking walls inside my mind, leaving all the dark behind.”

“Are You Out There?” paints neon radiance above a thickly intertwined drum beat and crisp snare drums guided by heaving bass, adding power as the vocals are a mixture of sweetness and ache, expressing the lyrics with emotional sensitivity. The main melodic line captures a sense of tragedy and a profoundly damaged heart while the melody carries on a glimmering synth as JJ Mist doubles it.

An atmosphere of wanting and unfulfilled passion spills while a delicate web of synth weaves throughout the underlayer. Bell-like tones flicker and the song exhales loss before JJ Mist takes up the words with sincerity, pushing them into my soul. Huge beats reverberate, supporting the floating vocals, while the underlayer drives forward.

A ghostly state of mind imbues the words, summoned by the melody, before the guitar interlaces with incandescent feeling and sobbing pain. Kurt Aquilina solos with intricate skill before the sunset illumination of the synth flows again and JJ Mist brings the music to an end.

Walking alone, our primary character can hear the song subject's name in the air as their footsteps echo like they were still around. She feels trapped in a loop from which she can't break free and she stays put while time moves forward. She asks, "Are you out there? Are you near? Can you hear me crystal clear?" She wonders if the other person knows she's still waiting and won't let go.

The storyteller still dreams of the song's subject and hears their secrets. She wonders if they're out there and asks, "can you feel what we had is still so real?" She calls out for the other person but gets no reply, "just fading lights and empty skies." Despite the other person's absence, they still seem so close to her "in every sound I think I hear."

"Are you out there? I think you are, not too close and not too far" and as the narrator ponders this question she also asks if they're out there "in the blue." She aches for the song's subject to let her know if they're still there and wants them to "send a sign before you go." She questions if the other person is still out there in the darkness because "I still carry every spark."

To conclude, the primary character still hangs on to what might have been and says, "Are you out there? Say it's true, I'm still here missing you."

An orchestra grows with trembling sensations before bursting into a rising brass line, blazing in brilliant luminosity as “With Her Tonight” starts and gargantuan drums thunder while the guitar cries with every ounce of hurt feeling. JJ Mist, her voice shaking with betrayal, echoes above the slowly rumbling foundation and the drums and guitar interlock.

Hopelessness fills JJ Mist's sobbing voice, begging for truth and the chance to move on. Kurt Aquilina’s surging guitar snarls with colossal strength and complements the raw feelings that are driven into my heart.

The chorus is accompanied by the sharp-edged guitar line which emphasizes the force of feeling in the vocal delivery. Battering beats strike like a storm while the guitar solo rips out in an intricately soulful line that tumbles with fierce abandon. As the song ends, the words pour out in a broken cry.

Noticing that the song's subject isn't home again, the main character remarks that it's the second time that week. He tells her that he’s with a friend but “I know that there's something more ‘cause I see her in your eyes. " She goes on to say " it's no surprise she's got you under her finger" and she's sure that the other person is with her that night.

"Come on baby, let me know, this love no longer feels right" as the storyteller realizes that "she's got your heart, you’re hers and you'll stay with her tonight." She finds it impossible to blame the song’s subject because she realizes "you were lost the moment she spoke her name." As she sees the other person drifting away, she asks "how can I compete with her beauty?"

At the end of the song, our narrator adds, "you say it's all untrue, but honey I'm no fool. I love you so but you must let me go.”