Synth Single Review: “Afterlight” by Neon Shards

by Karl Magi

Neon Shards’s “Afterlight” is an evocative nocturnal journey down flowing highways. The song begins with a twirling synth creating intense motion while the grounding sounds rebound. The drums are clean as they support the limpid melody drifting with sweet melancholy above a supporting beat.

Bass trembles as higher notes create images of neon light illuminating the open road, while the rough-edged synth provides a slicing counterpoint. Like distant stars above the rushing highway, elevated notes sparkle and the rhythmic underlayer presses on as the raised tones fluoresce like streetlights on car windows sliding down a night highway.

The track’s mood compels me as it evokes cruising through the night toward a barely seen horizon. Chimes glitter and Neon Shards’s guitar opens into a solo that reflects dreaming journeys down the open road, intricate, detailed and full of sonic magic that thrills me. The underpinnings throb on as luminous notes spin out in a starry web, and the main synth melody captures all the sensations of lonely-night travel.