RAN - Exopolis

Review By Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

RAN’s Exopolis is a powerfully delineated journey into a dystopian city, full of emotional guitar power and intricately interlocking synths. RAN paints aural imagery of darkness, hope and a strange future as the album unfolds. It is music with richness and depth as well as boundless energy bursting from it.

Perhaps the strongest aspect of Exopolis is RAN’s guitar playing. The man is a bonafide guitar monster who can imbue the strings with energy and life. He can shred like a maniac, but never departs from musicality. There’s a palpable sense of presence in the guitar solos, making them feel as if the voice of a living thing is being channeled through his guitar. So much character and dynamism pours from his guitar and out into the album.

Another strong aspect of Exopolis is RAN’s use of synths to create a cinematic backdrop for the music. I know the word “cinematic” gets bandied about but in this album’s case I think the term is apt. The synth palette is intricately interwoven to paint strong images in the mind’s eye. All of the various synth sounds come together to create moments of energy, intense beauty and deep sorrow. The emotional depth of the music drew me in and fully immersed me.

The other aspect to the album that I enjoy is the cohesion within it. As the music unfolds, it becomes all of a piece. One track moves into another and the transitions feel smooth and don’t jar. The end result is an album that weaves a rich sonic tapestry which unfurls without interruption.

My Favourite Tracks Analyzed

“The Road to Exopolis” starts off with an intense metallic rush before an exuberantly bursting drum and bass pulse leaps in along with hard-charging guitar. There’s a quick drum fill and vibrating synth sounds spin as the lead synth melody flies out with a triumphant glow. The guitar growls as the drums and bass throb with gigantic power. Guitar chords lend energy to the track as elevated, shimmering chimes repeat a taut musical pattern.

Hard-hitting drums propel the music as swirling synths drift and the bass pulse joins the worried chimes. The guitar takes up the victorious melody as it cries out in slightly shadowed lines. I am impressed by the way in which the whirling, madly flickering guitar solo twirls and leaps as the drums and bass charge on.

RAN’s guitar skills are on florid display as the strings create a hurricane of intricate notes. The lead synth takes up the powerful melody as the raised chimes sparkle with flashing light. Underneath it all, the drums and bass charge on along with guitar weight, rushing to a conclusion.

Mistily flowing synths sweep in an airy rush, tinged with a vaguely ominous feeling to open "Silicon Graveyard.” Gritty synth cuts in along with heavy drums to launch the music. High, shining synth with a nervous feeling creates a flickering, ghostly note pattern as jagged bass snarls and massive drums throb.

The bass’ creaking grunt and battering drums underpin the high, arpeggiating synths that raise the musical tension. Harsh bass oscillates to support the raised, sparkling lead synth. There’s a pained but quietly hopeful quality to the melody to which I am drawn.

There’s a drum fill and minor key, darkness shrouded synth clouds move with the sharp-edged bass as the percussion drives on and spectral sounds rise in the distance. Glittering synths arpeggiate with a worried feeling and the melody shines in again, hurting and yearning, as the drums and bass push the track towards an end.

“EPD Highway Patrol” kicks off as smoothly whirling, gleaming arpeggios leap along with flaring synth and heavily pulsating drums and bass. Tumbling synth with a broadly spreading shine climbs in dynamic lines. Twinkling, minor-key synth cascades in a pattern full of barely contained energy, positively crackling with intensity.

The glowing lead synth pattern imbues the track with a sense of acceleration and motive power as the drumbeat surges. Flying arpeggios add to the track’s speeding feeling and after a drum flourish, RAN plays a ferocious tornado of a howling guitar solo. The drum and bass solidity underpins the wild rawness of the guitar.

The impassioned solo unfolds in skilfully interwoven notes. There’s a bursting quality to the drums and bass while the guitar shreds and rockets along. A climbing, flying synth pattern surges forward over the drum and bass intensity below it. Shadowy arpeggios dance and the whole track explodes with life before fading on the tense arpeggios.

Rapidly tapping percussion and warmly glowing synth that flares through the music to bring “The Swing District” to life. A weighty bass pulse moves in a slightly uneven pattern as swelling synth chords touch the music and tripping drums shape it. Hectic, angular synth moves in a revolving pattern as smooth chords rise.

The drums burst again and a trembling, medium-high synth plays a melody effectively mixing gentle feelings with a sunlit glow. A nasal, medium-high synth carries a flowing melodic line with an easy breathing feeling. Round-sounding synth chords bounce in an energetic pattern as slipping sounds trickle in the background. Nasal-sounding synth notes urge the music on in an encouraging pattern over the steadily bursting drums.

After a drum fill, the yearning melody sails out on a full-sounding synth over the oscillating bass and pulsing drums. RAN’s guitar whirls and flies through a solo that reaches skyward, crying out and spilling lush tendrils through the music. The driven, dynamic lead melody and the guiding drum return before the guitar cries out in the distance, imbuing the music with even more life.

“Ashen Skies” opens as pained piano chords create a mournful feeling as they slide through the music, imbuing it with deep emotion. The piano melody is gentle, brimming with sorrow as the drums guide it. Rough-edged bass throbs powerfully and string-like synths call out and add more hurting emotion while the contrasting guitar is fierce and dark.

The track is slashed by an elevated synth howling out the main melody in an arcing line that is broken by RAN’s guitar. I enjoy the way in which the minor key guitar solo takes breathtaking leaps and sobs with emotion over the gruff, snarling bass and battering drums.

Elevated, metallic synth arpeggios float into the music. Very high synth shines with the broken-hearted melody and drums and bass push the song on. The raised synth falls back into the emotive piano part, tinged with loss and despair.

Clear, gleaming synth moves in a coruscating cloud over hard-hitting drums as “That Fateful Day” commences. Wide-open, intense guitar sings a melody that is majestic and full of portentous feeling over the deep bass pulse and guiding drums.

Once again, I am drawn to RAN’s guitar which he makes into a mad thing, bending and writhing with passionate life. The drums and bass form a tide that sweeps the music along as the guitar moves in its dramatic melody and out into silence.

Conclusion

Exopolis is an album that creates a sonic world within itself. Each element contributes to the storytelling and the end result has depth, weight and intricacy woven into it. RAN tops it all off with highly impressive and powerful guitar performances that serve to deepen the music.

Diamond Ace - The Mechanisms of Color

Review by Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

Diamond Ace’s The Mechanisms of Color is an emotive, intensely interwoven sonic journey exploring life, love and the struggles we all face in dealing with it all. Diamond Ace’s guitar skills mingle with vocal performances by Mayah Camara, Roxy Fae, Rory Lynch and Retroglyphs (who also contributes his guitar chops) to imbue the songs with deep feeling.

All of the singing and lyrics contributed by the guest artists are a major reason why The Mechanisms of Color succeeds. Each performer brings strong singing voices to bear on the well-written lyrics that they’ve contributed. I enjoy how individual and expressive each singer is and how their abilities elevate the whole album’s sound.

Diamond Ace and Retroglyphs both add skilful guitar playing to the album. The guitars explore different tones and feelings as they lay down clean melodies and intricate, emotive solo parts that dance through the music and intensify the journey on which the album takes listeners. The musical layer they add lifts the songs up one more level.

The synths that Diamond Ace uses on the album are all carefully chosen and combined to produce a rich, complex and well-integrated sound. There are a tapestry of interesting, varied sounds that move from sparkling heights to rumbling depths with many detours through gentle, powerful and pained synthscapes along the way.

My Favourite Tracks Analyzed

“Where We Started”  comes into existence as limpid, sparkling synth trembles in waves and grows in strength over a flowing bass tide. The bass has an almost physical weight to it and the bright chimes shimmer above it.

The bass forms a strong pulse and the heavy hitting drums throb in to increase the density of the track’s low end. The chimes twinkle and shine out over the solidity of the jumping drums and bass, forming a muscled surge. Synth glows with lucid clarity above the powerful weight underneath it as sweeping winds drift through the track.

There’s gigantic power in the drums and bass, adding profound propulsion in  fascinating contrast to the delicate shimmer above as the drums drop out and the crystal chimes fade away into quiet.

Medium-high, effulgent synth rapidly wanders in oscillating patterns though “Kaleidoscopic’s" open spaces as the colossal kick drum throbs and solidly gliding bass swells. Now the drums create forceful forward motion underneath wildly cascading, shining synth patterns.

Gently caressing, elevated synth trails airy tendrils through the music as it carries a charmingly tender melody over the drum and bass motion below it. Slipping synth moves in trembling lines over the active bass as glittering, high sounds ripple in undulating patterns. The lead synth floats in again to lightly touch the ears, exuding feelings of cloudy ease, while the continuous drum and bass pulse moves the track forward before winding down to silence.

“Thirteen Horses” opens as distant, fragile synth slowly builds in the background before pulsing drums and solid bass underpin Diamond Ace’s guitar. The guitar’s strings exude expressive emotion over the laidback synth glide and shaping drums.

Retroglyphs' voice is breathy and aches with feeling over the strong drum and bass motion. I enjoy how Diamond Ace’s drifting guitar increases the song’s emotional depth. Warm synth waves lap against the touching guitar as it sails distantly through the music. Retroglyphs' vocals beautifully capture a feeling of loss as they slip over the steady pulse underneath them.

The guitar flows in a smooth line that unfurls with a light touch and supports the rising, emotive vocals. Now broad guitar notes shift in a lost-feeling melody. Unique, hollow percussion forms a different pulse as the bass lifts the other sonic elements. Retroglyphs' hazy voice lifts up over the drums and bass underneath before the song ends.

Our narrator opens by saying “there I am at 22, nothing left to prove” and talks about how he went running back to the song’s subject also with “nothing left to prove.” The narrator refers to taking a gamble as he’s unable to pick even one of the “thirteen horses” he mentions.

The storyteller has told an unnamed group that he was supposed to have left that night, but has lied. Again he repeats that there were thirteen horses but “with my luck, I couldn’t pick them” out and concludes that “And then I lied.”

A twinkling bell and string-like, shimmering synth is joined by Rory Lynch’s emotive voice as with distant piano washes through to start “This Life.” Bass oscillation and solidly hitting drums propel the music as a dreaming sax echoes out. Rory Lynch’s richly expressive vocals float as throbbing drums guide the music on.

The vocal melody carries wistful emotion in a superb way as  sax accents deepen its melancholy. The song moves into a segment in which the percussion drops out and sparkling chimes flash in.The guitar sings out in resonant, touching notes over the piano chords and bass flow.

Rory Lynch’s singing imbues the words with meaning as a spinning guitar arcs out in a full-toned, widely ranging guitar solo.  I enjoy the solo's jazzy freedom as it wheels and soars. Underneath it, the drums throb with energy and the sax cries out and hurts into silence.   

Our narrator’s pain and loss is palpable as he talks about how “this life was just a hopeless cause” and says that “this song” wasn’t meant for him. He goes on to wonder if love is only “a warm body” laying next to him and a soft voice speaking to him.

The narrator’s outlook is bleak as he says that because our deaths are inevitable “maybe life’s just a big hose.” He goes on to say that “this life was just a hopeless call” before adding that it seems like nothing ever comes out of it. Our narrator says that “you get lonely, get lost in the city” but it doesn’t make any difference at all.

An actively moving bassline and echoing, trickling strings open “Appreciation” as Roxy Fae’s airy, easy-flowing voice carries a delicately caressing vocal melody. Guitar notes reverberate out into open space over the guiding drum pulse. Mayah Camara’s lush, strong voice trembles with feeling as solidly throbbing drums shape the music. The guitar glides out in slipping notes over the bass oscillation and drifts alone.

Mayah Camara’s voice fills the music with deep expression, intertwining with Roxy Fae’s supporting vocals. The song floats out into a drifting, gently caressing section. The two singer’s voices layer in more emotion over the bass density and depth before Diamond Ace’s guitar carries a yearning solo full of need and desire over the shaping drums and bass.

The narrator talks about how the song’s subject turns her away because “that's how you show your friends that you're in control” adding that they “haven’t in a long time. She says that the other person doesn’t push her “‘cause you know I’m right” adding “I need a little more appreciation.” Our narrator asks, “Haven’t you seen the best of me?”

As the song continues, the storyteller asks for an apology and some more appreciation again. She requests that the other person try to "treat me like your 100%, miss out on your friends tonight” and points out that they can see them another day. She adds “make it your plans to get close to me.” The narrator ends up concluding that “I don’t wanna talk about it, I heard it all before” and finishes on the line “we haven’t in a long time.”

"(Untitled 4)” commences as quickly cascading, spinning arpeggios are joined by thick, heavy bass. Diamond Ace’s flickering guitar carries howling notes that leap out over the bouncing drumbeat and pulsing bass as the intertwining, glittering synths fall in tumbling patterns.

The guitar is driven by the massive bass as it growls and smoother, round, medium-high synth bubbles through in repeating, sparkling patterns. The guitar part skillfully mixes shadows and pent up energy over the jumping drums and thick bass. Diamond Ace's guitar cuts through to contrast with the brighter arpeggios shine as tense synths also swell.

The guitar takes on a smoother, more easy-going flow as arpeggios keep whirling in intertwining threads and the drums guide them on.  Intricate guitar notes drip with blazing emotion, leaping out above the churning power that surges below. The track ends on distorted, falling notes moving into empty space.

Conclusion

The Mechanisms of Color is an album full of intertwining synths and guitars, strong vocal performances and an expressive sense of emotional exploration. Diamond Ace and his guests stepped up and the end result is a great deal of listening pleasure. To learn more about Diamond Ace, check him out here.

RND87 - Waiting For You

Review by Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

RND87’s Waiting For You is powerfully percussive synthwave that unfolds luxuriantly interleaved synths and emotive melodic moments over top of that rhythmic low end to paint vivid sonic images. The album carries the listener on a journey through ear-grabbing synthscapes.

The drum and bass rhythms that run through Waiting For You are the living heartbeat of the album. They create a sense of intense propulsion and surging energy that permeates the music, imbuing it with a dynamic quality. I enjoy how the strength and continuity of the beats and bass underpin each musical element and keep everything flowing in a pulsing tide.

RND87’s skill at melodic writing is also apparent on Waiting For You. He crafts melodies that have purity and intention in them. They are able to convey an emotional punch and weave strong imagery out of their notes. There’s deep feelings embedded in the melodic moments of the album, feelings that fill me up and carry me away.

The way in which synths are combined on this album results in a rich, nuanced and layered soundscape. All of the varied synths are interwoven to form a tapestry with variegated sonic colours that all interact in unique ways. There’s a plethora of textural, tonal and timbral variations that run through the music and give it contrast, depth and a luscious feeling as the album reveals itself.

My Favourite Tracks Analyzed

“Neon Moon” comes to life as cosmically swirling synth sweeps along above unctuous bass that slowly moves below active synth chords. Solid, massive retro drums form a throbbing pulse as gruff synth swirls. Shining, medium high synth repeats a hypnotic note pattern, creating a metallic pulse that exudes a slightly worried energy.

Sweeping, glowing synth intertwines over the spirited drum and bass pulse. Now wide, slowly unfurling arpeggios weave through the music and a sharp-edged, medium high synth tumbles in. Elevated, shimmering synth carries a melody that has a tragically gentle feeling that I find touching.

The track returns to a repeating, steady synth pattern with its own melancholy feeling as hollow arpeggios wind through the track. The lead synth melody sparkles and hurts before the music ends on a metallic pulse, dense bass and sweeping synths.

“Dressing Up” opens as high, sunlit synth spills out and a broken bass pulse moves over a steady kick drum. Misty, lambent synth chords roam smoothly behind the other musical elements. Trickling, flickering lead synth carries a warming, uplifting main melody.

Open-voiced, medium high synths carry a  secondary feather-light melodic pattern as sparkling, rippling notes dance. Medium-high, enfolding synth pulsates in gliding lines before the drums shape the music. Gleaming synths intertwine in an encouraging and hopeful melodic pattern. There’s a breathy, soothing feeling in this track that I enjoy as sharper edged synth flows in a luscious pattern before silence falls.

Powerfully throbbing bass slowly oscillates over a steady kick drum and rough-edged, ethereal synth chords slip through to begin “Waiting For You.” Synth chords rise and fall as a medium-high, round-sounding synth carries slowly descending patterns.

Elevated, effulgent synth repeats a melodic pattern that bursts with glowing light over the steady drum and bass heartbeat. Airy synth breezes sail in over gently descending synths with a slightly melancholy feeling to them. I am drawn to that hint of sadness within the descending notes.

Raised synth trembles and yearns high above, feeling expectant as the percussive pulse keeps the music progressing. Oscillating synths come in with a dynamic energy all of their own. Medium-high synth whirls out in steadily unfolding lines before a rich synth tone with a nasal quality carries a pattern that fades into silence.

“Sunset Rider” commences as a solitary kick drum is joined by undulating bass while a far-off, ghostly synth slide along. Medium-low, tender synth carries a shimmering melody over the oscillating bass and tapping drums. Digital-sounding, glittering synth shivers in waves through the track.

Medium-low, caressing notes flutter through as chiming, jangling synth weaves together an addictive pattern. The way in which the lead synth pattern speaks of journeys into the growing twilight is compelling for me. Rippling, descending notes slip out in repeating patterns as high synth glows and chimes with metallic ease into quiet.

Reverent, vocal synth carries a fragile line out over a deep well of bass to start “School’s Out.” The bass forms a propulsive, angular pattern as smooth, resonant synth carries a hopeful note pattern.  Elevated, string-like synth sings the main melody out over the continuous drum and bass motion. I am charmed by the way in which the main melody brims with summery emotion and a youthful sense of wonder.

Now metallic synth echoes out in tremulous lines over the leaping drums and throbbing bass as gossamer threads of sound float past. Wandering, reverberant synth repeats in a flitting pattern and the lead synth melody sings again, calling to mind sunlight filtering through green leaves. Sparkling synths shine and the dreamy main melody fills the track with all the emotions of an escape to carefree days.

“Driving Home” starts out as bright, slightly gritty synth chords burst and fade into open space with a piano like element. A pulsing bassline and a shaping drumbeat move the music on as a creaky, angular synth pattern moves in rapid waves. Flaring synth leaps out and the solidly propulsive drums and bass keep pushing onwards.

Delicate light pours from a background synth as the shifting chord pattern moves beneath the creaking synths. I am enamoured of the strength of this track’s low end and its dynamism. Luminous synth trembles high above and medium-low, sharp-edged synth keeps cutting into the music. Chords flower outward and the percussion drops off before all of the musical layers mesh again and throb out as if they’ll never end.

Conclusion

Waiting For You is synth-based music that has a layered power to it along with moments of gentleness and a sense of exploration. I enjoy the journey on which it takes me when I listen and I hope to hear more from RND87 in the future. For more information on RND87, visit him here.

Novablood - Pretty Disco Lights

Photo credit: Vincent Muller

Review by Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

Novablood’s Pretty Disco Lights takes listeners on an emotional, deeply felt lyrical journey enhanced by excellent vocal performances and a lusciously layered synthpop background. The songs explore the full range of human feeling over a well-produced, complex sonic tapestry. Novablood is music that takes hold and draws listeners in.

One of the primary reasons for Pretty Disco Light’s strength is lead singer Dave Beattie’s voice. His vocal style combines passion, expression and emotional flexibility in equal measure. He can fill it with power or let it ache and tremble as the song’s lyrics and overall emotion require. He’s also got a wide range that gives him the ability to match the music’s peaks and troughs.

The lyrics on Pretty Disco Lights are another reason why the album works well for me. The writing is clear, strong and explores life, loss, passion and the complex mixture of feelings that can entangle and coexist within us. They weave emotionally engaging stories and create imagery that grabs a hold of the listener and pulls them in.

Musically there’s a great deal of layering and the use of synth instruments to create different tonal colours, timbral differences and sonic textures that provide luscious support for Dave Beattie’s voice. I enjoy the quality of the melodic writing on the album along with the propulsive strength of the drums and bass. All of the elements combine to create compelling and enjoyable songs that are engaging for my ears.

My Favourite Tracks Analyzed

“See The Dawn In” starts off as flaring, medium-high synth rises and a subtly wavering, elevated tone moves into the music. Vibrating, shimmering synth trembles before Dave Beattie’s passionate, airy voice carries the equally impassioned lyrics. Steadily oscillating bass forms a strong underpinning to the emotion-drenched lyrics and the tremulous synth.

The vocal melody glides easily over the glittering synth and the throbbing bass and guiding drums. Chimes flicker through and the bass grows more reverberant and sharp-edged underneath the tenderness of the vocals. Expansive keyboard notes carry a melodic pattern that glows and caresses over the snapping percussion.

The synths have a warm tone like the sunrise mentioned in the lyrics. The luscious vocals add to the pure sun-drenched feeling. Now the full-toned guitar cries out and whirls through a densely cascading solo and Dave Beattie’s voice aches with powerful desire.

This is a song about a deep love and intense passion between two people. Our narrator asks the other person to give him her eyes and “that sweet smile” along with her time “all the time.” He says that he can’t wait to look at her “sweet face” as they share summer days together.

I am drawn to the image of them “dancing in the haze of the morning” and seeing the dawn breaking as “the birds come calling.” Our narrator asks how she can say he’s doing it her way and adds “don’t let these good days go astray.” The storyteller concludes, “Your love it got me without warning, your love was there to see the dawn in.”

Solidly undulating bass and gliding drums pulsate to open “My Subconscious” before Dave Beattie’s smoothly expressive voice comes in. The vocal melody flows like silk over the steady drumbeat and strong bass. Hollow chimes ripple through the song as the vocal melody adds emotion and a warm, sensual touch.

Digital-sounding, open-voiced synth drifts in a slightly mournful melody over the guiding beat as a gossamer sound softly moves around it. The song breaks into dense bass oscillation and the drums keep guiding the music while string-like flashes accent the vocals. I enjoy the way in which Dave Beattie’s smooth voice mingles gentleness and deep feeling.

Hollow synth ripples in tremulous lines as the drums and bass add motion. Distant, wide-open sounds trickle in and medium-low, rich synth chords shift with an ethereal feeling. The vocals unfurl in a soft, airy line and the trembling synth keeps floating.

As the song begins, there’s a wry twist as the narrator asks why anyone would want to know about his life followed by wondering “Ain't you got enough problems of your own?” He encourages the other person to go easy on themselves adding “there's no need to twist the knife.”

Our storyteller says that he remembers “when you showed me home” it was like he was hit as if by a wave and knocked off his feet. He goes on to say that “my subconscious speaks to me” and hides behind the truth until “I don’t know just what is real.” He wonders if he imagined the other person.

The narrator likens people to “many faces on the wall” who are constantly fighting their own private battles. He asks, “Do we know just what they’re hiding from?” He points out the fact that people should take it easy on others “because you might need love someday.” The song’s subject is addressed as the narrator says he remembers them showing him some love.

There’s an ambivalent feeling from our storyteller who talks about waking up with a “weird feeling” in this “strange season.” He says that the days are nameless now, so “they just come and go.” He asks why he thinks that he’s “watching my world sinking” and concludes that “I guess it depends on which way the wind blows.”

“Stray” starts off with shadowy, vibrating synth waves gliding easily through open space. Rapid, solidly pulsing drums and a tinkling metallic bell create a quick beat as rough-edged, angular bass throbs. Dave Beattie’s voice has a pleasingly silken edge and a caressing quality as it carries an aching melody.

Glittering chimes echo into open space and the energetic drum and bass pulse carries the music on. Dave Beattie captures and transfer the emotion in the lyrics effectively. The glassy chimes intertwine through the vocals, adding another layer of lightly touching sound. Drums and bass shift as flaring, digital-sounding high synth accents the vocals.

Round-sounding, trembling lead synth resonates in sweeping swathes through the music. The deep, steady synth pulse adds a hip-shaking feeling along with the endlessly shifting percussion. The vocals arc into the music again, strong and full of deep emotion, as the song drives onward.

This is a song about a relationship’s dissolution. Our storyteller addresses the other person and suggests that maybe they should be the better person and say that “this ain’t working.” He continues to say that he’s had enough of trying to find answers and adds “It’s kinda tough, missing all the chances.”

Now the narrator tells the other person to make their last move because he’s got “no more cards to play.” He just wonders if they’re waiting for the “endgame.” As he continues, he says that he doesn’t know why “I'm a prisoner to your eyes” and adds that “they’re capable of breaking up my inside.”

The storyteller says that just seeing “the remnants of your smile” takes him back into both the good and bad times now gone by. He adds wistfully that “when all is said and done, you were the only one.” He asks the other person to “ignite my flame again” before they leave. He asks plaintively “Why don't you let in love?”

Tightly wound, raised synth moves over sharp-edged, descending bass and constantly pulsing synth to commence “Back Then.” Higher, brighter sounds burst underneath the vocals that carry the gentle, hurting melody. Surging synth tides glow in quickly moving lines while the drums and bass provide an energizing pulse below them.

The resonant vocals are well accented by gleaming synth that enfolds them. The vocals move against the grit-edged bass oscillation as rapid, full-sounding synth drifts. Flickering synth vibrates along with the propulsive beat and the emotive throb in Dave Beattie’s voice adds more feeling to the song. After a huge drum fill, trumpeting synth cries out in an impassioned howl as the drums and bass keep up their relentless pulse.


The narrator addresses an unknown subject, telling them that “you don’t own me, you’ll never control me at any time.” He talks about his youth when “this life was so special” and peace was “essential” along with rights that were fundamental.

Our narrator reminisces about being “young…free…crazy all the time” as they went running through the fields. He reminds us all that “we’re no more than each other, we’re the same.” He adds that he has his “suspicions that we’re all being conditioned” by the powers that be as part of their vision.

Now the storyteller talks about how the “golden days we reflect upon” are gone but that we keep them near our hearts until “those golden days return.”

“Transcendent” comes to life as slowly moving drums and a reverent, delicate synth web flow in, growing in volume. The percussion ticks steadily with a hollow quality as Dave Beattie’s fragile, expressive voice carries the song’s poetic message. A cloudy synth swirls and the bass rumbles below it as the drums shape the music.

Glossy, shining synth adds subtle accents to the vocal richness before the song is stripped back to drums and bass. Dave Beattie sings with a wonderfully gentle, clear quality to deliver the song’s message. Distant, medium-high guitar calls out, adding to the song's deeper emotion. Glittering, string-like synth wriggles high above the piano that brushes the music.

Raised synth moves in wandering drifts over the bass solidity and tapping drum guidance. Piano notes rustle through the music, feather-light and tender, as the bass rumbles and the percussion moves with it. Undulating, flickering high synths roam through the music as the vocals whisper. We end on reverberant, medium-high synth and guiding percussion.

This song’s lyrics are in the form of a near poem. The words talk about an inner state that is “disconnecting reality” as it encourages us to “stop talking, start living.” The lyrics warn that “a monologue” is one’s defence mechanism. The song tells us that “infinite love” is a human condition and points out that “if you believe, you will receive without limitation.”

Now the lyrics speak about becoming transcendent, finding inner peace and “reconnecting synergies.” The song’s words encourage us to “shut the world out and meditate” to become transcendent and regenerate. The song talks of freeing oneself of “media feeds” and letting go of material needs. The song ends by saying that “we'll never know, maybe when we're bolder, when the war is over.”

Gleaming chimes sparkle into open space as misty sound grows in waves and medium-high synth shifts and carries a tremulous line to begin “Decadence.” Oscillating, powerful synth and snapping percussion form a propulsive flow. Medium-high synth carries an active, expressive melody as Dave Beattie's airy vocal sensuality comes in to lift the song.

Bright chimes dance in a metallic line that accents the vocals. Unique percussion taps into the music as string-like synth twines through. Dave Beattie’s voice brims over with breathy emotion as broad synth moves in a brassy line and the chimes glitter. Drums and bass shape the music as the medium-low, glowing synth flashes in along with sweeping sonic flows. Emotion leaks from each pore of the music as echoing, lambent synth trembles out and the song ends.

This song describes a selfish, shallow person who rose to the top only to topple back down. The narrator starts by talking about how this person was “the face of the city” who had everything but “lost it in the casino of life.” The “cars…horses…trophy wife” were all gone and his wife “fell back into her old ways, walking the night.”  Now “ the ‘80s turned to ‘90s like a flashback to a dream” as all the “fake smiles and decadence” sat between those points.

Our storyteller points out that “the trust in the mirror” was gone and asks where the song’s subject’s self control went. There’s an interesting contrast as the narrator says that “you gave it all up for Jesus when you traded your soul.” He goes on to point out that the song’s subject was “the life of the party” before the money disappeared. The narrator says that this person “sold your friends down the river, one by one.”  In the final lines of the song, the storyteller says that once “I saw you in a magazine, now you’re alone inside your dream.”

“Shadows” stars off as bouncing, tautly stretched bass pulses unevenly.  Quickly arpeggiating open-sounding synth is joined by a solidly throbbing drum and bass heartbeat and Dave Beattie’s emotionally expressive voice.  Flashing, cascading synth tumbles in before the vocal melody oozes with melancholy and the arpeggiating synths vibrate.

Flaring synth moves in slow chords as another ghostly synth with a floats in the distance. The chorus loses the percussion and bass for a shining synth’s light touch and arpeggiating, hollow notes shiver.  A string section adds an uplifting and elegiac melody as it soars out over the song's heartbeat. The lyrics capture the complicated emotions of loss and memory.

The narrator asks, "Hey boys! What you do today?” The response is that they “said goodbye to a friend, this is not the end” as they gave him a send off. He goes on to add that he meant to say that “no matter where or when” the person in the song is with him until the end and “I know he got his way.”

Our narrator talks about how he’ll “be with you until the light goes” adding “turn the lights out” as they go “walking through the shadows, on the dark side of our own lives.” They’ll walk down the street “where we'd meet that we both know.”

The storyteller goes on to say that when they went away, they “hit Berlin from the ‘Lisle (Carlisle)” and he saw the feeling in his friend’s smile “right until the end.” They would play sessions on a Saturday in which they set the “world to rights in every way.” He talks about how the “thin white duke just lost its face” in reference to the David Bowie character and ends by saying that “this Brixton boy just left his space.”

Distantly echoing, drifting synths are broken by a dreaming trumpet as a synth with a similarly trumpeting quality also roves through “Wanshu.” The trumpet has a slowly slipping quality as carries an ethereal melody that glides with consummate ease.

A tapping, sliding drumbeat gives the music forward motion into the wide open spaces of the track. The trumpet’s got a jazzy sensibility as the filmy synth that floats behind it adds more easy going feeling. The percussion is gentle and touches the ears lightly as the sharp-edged synth trembles.

Once again, the trumpet makes its shining and elegant journey through the music, breathing with calm and peaceful emotion. The drumbeat is delicate and the bass is a river underneath it as it buoys up the other musical pieces of the track. I enjoy the sense of cosmic wandering in the trumpet and hollow percussion taps into the music before we fade into silence.

“Pretty Disco Lights” kicks off as broad, open percussion moves with round-sounding synth swelling in smooth waves over the metallic tick of the drums. Dave Beattie’s voice is like molten dark chocolate as it moves into the song. The steady percussion and synth washes lap like ripples on a breeze-stirred pond. The drumbeat and bass become a throbbing pulse below the funky guitar-like synth, giving the track a steady motion.

Dave Beattie’s voice is  engaging and sensuous as it curls through the music. Elevated, shimmering synth carries a tender melodic pattern as the funky guitar cuts in with accenting notes. The drums and bass give this song an addictive feeling. Large synth blocks pulsate along with the beat while the shiny guitar lick flashes in.

Metallic synth blocks undulate and the chorus rises above them. Jazzy, funky synth carries an active melodic pattern that unfurls through the music over the smooth drum and bass motion. The song move into a subdued segment as musical elements intertwine, quiet down and then swell back to full dynamism. Through it all, the drums and bass don't let up as the guide the music on.

Our narrator begins by asking to be prescribed “some medication to see me through the night” because he explains that “I used to dream about you, girl, every night” but now she’s gone and he feels lost.  He asks her “what you dreaming of” and concludes that she had "just set your sights a little higher than the two of us.” Now he’s seeking out “pretty disco lights” to keep him company at night.

Conclusion

Pretty Disco Lights is mature, complex and emotionally rich synthpop that mingles Dave Beattie’s tremendous voice with well-crafted lyrics to take listeners on a journey through different emotional states and life experiences.

Embed Block

Add an embed URL or code. Learn more