Synth Single Review: “World of Promises” by Michael Oakley

by Karl Magi

Michael Oakley’s “World of Promises” delves into this world’s brokenness as a cassette tape spins up in a tinny jangle of sound. Phantom impressions float outward before apocalyptic bass shatters against Michael Oakley’s ardent voice, transmitting loss and suppressed rage. Thundering weight punctuates the vocals which burn with indignation and warning, as spectral tones trail like the hands of the dead.

Resonance and heart-piercing depth within Michael Oakley’s vocals seize me and capture all of the defiance in the lyrics. Snapping heaviness slices as pounding depth heaves while Michael Oakley expresses confronting energy and passion. Dana Jean Phoenix adds warming harmonies to the soundscape. Broken crystal tones ring as hypnotic beats batter while the vocals drift, full of compelling power. A rapid, metallic trembling shifts above pained strings before Michael Oakley carries the song to a conclusion.

 Asking for a show of hands, the narrator inquires as to who is losing self-control as we are “over-stimulated, running on false hope.” In a battle of words, different forces seek to recruit you because “it’s all for power, to conquer and divide.” He wonders if, in a world full of promises, our words mean anything and “where is the truth in all of this?” He points out that he can’t stand it any longer.

Fissures break our souls as “society is eating itself whole, manifests of lies from tongues of fire, singing the agenda of corporate choirs.” In this world of promises, our storyteller is trying to get it to make sense, to understand “a sleight of hand, an empty kiss, just to get the higher score.”

There is a “mayday call the fear incites” as the hidden powers play all sides. “The cracks are showing in mankind, it’s a fever dream, world of promises.”