Synth Single Review: “I Know There's Still Love” by Seersha

Review by Karl Magi

Seersha’s “I Know There's Still Love” explores the ache to find the love that’s all around. Coruscating, rough-edged tones move with a melody full of deep yearning and the rich bass flows below. The guitar cascades with a melody, intensely full of wanting and warmth, while the percussion adds a steady foundation.

Seersha’s voice is bittersweet as she carries a forlorn melody while the rhythm throbs steadily. Moving emotion pours from her as she delivers the ardently craving melody above the song’s smooth underpinnings. Gruffly gleaming synth is cut by the guitar, which howls with intricately interwoven notes, awash in emotion.

Seersha seizes me with her performance, reflecting affection and support while the guitar returns again, drifting with burning need. Strength fills the vocal performance as the words ring out above the heavily rebounding beat. Warm notes float in the distance as the guitar adds support to the vocal energy.

The guitar calls out once more, matching the soaring vocals as sparkling notes dance over the roughness behind them. The lead synth is drenched in emotion and Seersha ends the song with her characteristic strength.

“Heartbreak, loneliness” is what the narrator sees in the song’s subject’s eyes. She speaks of their being paralyzed by fear with “dusty dreams on the shelf,” but adds that she’s with them and “we can make it out alive.” There’s something missing that’s been there the whole time.

The missing ingredient for our storyteller is love. She adds, “I know there’s still love, there’s always enough, just open your heart to this love.” The song’s subject has been taken for a ride and she understands their skepticism but says, “Don’t let the past decide for you, leave the darkness for the light.”

She reiterates that she’s with the song’s subject and that they can make it out alive. She encourages them, saying, “Keep on hoping, it’s been here all the time.” She knows that love is still there and concludes, “You don’t have to be so tough, you can let down your guard to this love.”

Synth Single Review: "Return to Chinatown" by PantherWolfe

Review by Karl Magi

PantherWolfe’s "Return to Chinatown" evokes the adrenaline rush of an ‘80s action movie. The track opens with crystalline sparkles and an urgently tumbling bassline punctuated by massive drum beats. The dynamic, cascading melody adds urban grit as a shiny synth glistens like city lights. The snare drum is sharp as surging notes light up with all of the dynamism of a downtown night.

Hollow tom hits move with a surging synth that creates urgency and tension above the explosive rhythm. Lambent tones give the impression of a shining city skyline as the minor-key melody overflows with cinematic intensity. A twisting synth moves with the broken rhythm to create increased nervousness.

Adrenaline-pumping sensations pervade the track as it evokes narrow alleyways and continuous action. The underlayer launches the music forward as the background continues to shimmer like illuminated office towers at dusk. The main melody erupts with sheer excitement and wild action before more glowing notes flash. The beat charges again as wobbling, minor-key tones float past and create a sense of intense forward motion. The entire track exudes personality and thrilling action before silence falls.

Synth Single Review: "Into the Dark" by Minute Taker

Review by Karl Magi

Minute Taker’s "Into the Dark" explores love, society and human complexity. The song commences as mournfully drifting synth moves with a shadowy edge before the pop rhythm jumps along with a strummed guitar. A sliding synth joins Minute Taker’s bittersweet voice as it weaves a thread of gently dreamy melancholy, and the guitar strumming adds rhythmic warmth.

As the piano shines, the beat propels the music while the chorus rises with hurt, hopeful emotion as the guitar bounces. The way in which Minute Taker combines brokenness and aspiration touches me. Each of the vocal layers combines with the string-like synth as it creates luminosity like a candle flame in a shadowy room.

The organic nature of the guitar strumming contrasts with the synth sounds in a way that deepens the song’s richness. Glimmering notes dance like a lamp while Minute Taker exhales with luscious gentleness and the piano skips with an easy lightness as the chorus rings with heart-filling emotion. A hint of minor-key darkness touches the music before the chorus glows with affectionate encouragement as the rhythmic pulse below throbs. The song carries to an end with the vocals grasping emotion and delivering it to my ears.

“If you’re waiting for the veil to fall,” our storyteller reminds the song’s subject, be sure that “the darkness is inside us” and be certain that stars which burned out eons ago “sparkle all around us.” He adds that “all the wars are fought to keep us safe.” While political leaders preach freedom, “we are chained in caves just watching shadows dancing as the world circles the fire.”

Both the narrator and the song’s subject know that they aren’t on their own and “together we’ll fall into the dark.” He goes on to say that they’ll never let go as they fall into the dark together. As humanity spins through time, “we live in fear of one day being nothing with stars above just bright enough for us to find ourselves in darkness.”

Anyone who insists that they know the truth is “either lying or deluded,” sending prayers to their empty deities “for happy ever-afters as they slaughter for their cause.”

Synth Single Review: "Auretris" by Echo Wolf

Review by Karl Magi

Echo Wolf’s "Auretris" creates positive, encouraging moments as the track evolves. The track begins with a scintillating synth spinning out with positive brightness as wind sweeps. The beat is a smooth, pulsing flow as it forms an elastic rhythm with bass thick below. String-like synth shines with sunlight and a sense of release, carrying out above the strongly rhythmic underlayer as the bass rumbles.

The metallic notes twirl with encouragement, varying as they arc while the skipping rhythm continues. Drums drop away as the majestically flowing underpinnings support the melody as it rises with a sunlit sense of hope, spilling out around me and illuminating my world. The rumbling undercurrent flows before the rhythm returns with a bouncing sensation and the melody sings with all the brightness of a sunrise. Sparkling notes tumble in rapid succession, full of early-morning dynamism before the track ends.