Synth Single Review: “Losing Control” by Pashang 爬上 & eLxAr

by Karl Magi

Pashang 爬上 & eLxAr’s “Losing Control” speaks about the dissolution of humanity into a digital existence. The song commences as overwhelming bass and digital sounds vibrate together with dire import. Shuddering weight below moves with a fierce synth as it cuts cleanly and the bass looms with ominous power. Alex whispers with danger and bittersweet emotion as the storming underpinnings push forward.

Elevated notes shine with unsettling light as Alex’s voice becomes gentler, tinged with melancholy. Her voice changes again, harsh and deadly, catching me with its sinister feeling. Expanding notes shift below as Alex’s sibilant vocals hiss hungrily.

As the chorus descends, tenderness fills the synth and the vocals touch sensitively. The low end is vast and oppressive while a synth glistens with radiance as it carries a melody that balances harder elements with gentle uncertainty. A heavy underlayer imbues the music with menace while spectral vocals levitate.

Alex’s voice is full of terrifying emotion and pain. The contrasting chorus drifts with a bereft feeling while portentous percussion batters. The breathy pipe-like sounds created by Pashang 爬上 float before the track trails out into quiet.

As her life is erased little by little, the narrator is being infiltrated by “wires in my veins, circuits in my mind.” She begs to be given one more night, asking the other person to “come and hold me tight, let me feel you one last time.”

As each sense is replaced, she says, “I am the future, it’s all mechanical,” with glass eyes, steel lips and a “heart of gears.” With her emotions erased, she stops feeling. As the song ends, she says, “Life begins to fade, tonight is the end. Give me one last moment, let me feel alive.”