Synth Single Review: “Silicon Soul” by Stacy Gabriel

by Karl Magi

Stacy Gabriel’s “Silicon Soul” starts with dramatically slicing weight, as a xylophone that creates organic depth and a fat-sounding synth which rounds off the other tones with gentleness as an arpeggio spins unrelentingly. Adventurous feelings emanate from the tones that have a dawn-touched glow, supported by solid foundational weight as the fragility ripples from an arpeggio, before vibrating notes add an exotic feeling, evoking far off lands. 

The trumpeting melodic pattern has a staccato cleanliness, contributing forward motion and energy, while an entangling guitar slices, adding to the tension. Echoing xylophone travels outward with haunting grace, arpeggios swirling like parting clouds. A melody transported on lambent tones calls to mind traveling through new realms and landscapes full of strange and wondrous sights. 

As the arpeggios orbit, warping and morphing sensations fill the track, generating meditative contemplation for me. The voiceover speaks of searching for an idealized love but finding that getting closer to that love only made the character feel more detached and had him questioning whether or not the "code was broken." In the distance, a never-ending repetition hypnotizes the listener with graceful smoothness to shape the track. 

A steadily glimmering synth shivers while the endless notes twirl as the narrator understands that perhaps love isn't a fire for him but "a signal we keep chasing through the static." The foundational throb goes on, supporting the detached floating voiceover as the track fades to a pattering touch. Panpipes exhale with an ethereal feeling as the twisting tones wind around it, carrying the melody that imbues the track with hopeful feeling as an oboe-like instrument creates nasal gentleness and the track fades to a close.