Synth Single Review: “Galaxy’’ by LukHash

by Karl Magi

LukHash’s “Galaxy” is a paean to our beautiful universe. The track begins with tranquil bells ringing with stellar light above a swirling background, slowly spinning like the arms of a spiral galaxy. A resonant synth vibrates with cosmic peace, carrying a melody full of distant pain before the sharply broken beat drives forward resolutely.

Brilliant tones carry the melody as they shimmer like structures in space, effulgent and unknowable, filling me with contemplation. The beat becomes muffled as the main melody slips past, conveying imagery of planetary landscapes unfolding as a traveling starship floats on. Piano rises with emotive weight as the quickly leaping drum-and-bass rhythm joins the lead melody which glides past like a spaceship hanging in anti-gravity.

Warmer tones enter the music and sparkle like a thousand pinpoints of starry light in a black-velvet sky before the music exhales with deeply soothing sensations and the piano closes the track.

Synth Single Review: “Night Terrors” by Autumn White

Review by Karl Magi

Autumn White’s “Night Terrors” is a plea for peace and an end to the narrator’s broken nights. The song begins as a synth drifts with Autumn White’s vulnerable voice, moving with reverberant emotion. The rough synth slices while a slowly trickling note pattern moves in the distance.

The kick drum throbs in a bursting rhythm as Autumn White shows off his full range above the darkly guiding bass. The echoing vocal production adds to the heartbreaking feelings in the lyrics. Lacerating notes cut like the lyric’s pain while Autumn White presses them home with his broken, beautiful voice.

Xylophone adds a fragile trickle as the thumping rhythm drives and the vocals burn fervently. A delicate tone pattern ripples as the cleanly cutting synth descends and the rhythm guides before the chorus climbs again, tearing free from the lead singer with every ounce of his heart on display. The words trace a spectral filigree as the ticking percussion moves. Tiny notes ripple into silence.

“Would you wait for me, would you hold my hand?” is what the narrator asks the song’s subject. He asks, “As I head into the light, would you kiss me without a sound?” He admits to being confused and lost, questioning if he can ever be found. He says, “As I head into the light, I need an angel now.”

As our storyteller walked through the dark, all he could see was the song subject’s silver halo. He describes her as “like a girl from a magazine, with a gun in your hand and a bullet with my name written on the side.” He can see his pain “like a mirror reflected in your eyes.”

“In between every breath I take, I'm alone in a crowded place,” and with every word he speaks, the narrator remains alone. He points out that his mind is the enemy when he can't sleep and can barely breathe, adding, “These night terrors are killing me.”

While the clock’s second hand “cuts through my life like a blade,” the narrator is fighting that clock “like a ghost in the electric haze.” He runs until his lungs give out and screams until he’s got nothing left. He concludes, “Bury me deep, in the place that I sleep.”

Synth Single Review: “Ascension” by Aisle 9

Review by Karl Magi

Aisle 9’s “Ascension” paints images of effortless flight and aeronautic freedom. The track starts as a distantly vibrating synth wanders through a static crackle. Rushing, spinning sound is joined by a synth that dances with hollow dynamism above the gargantuan underlayer as keys glimmer with ethereal grace, skimming past like elegant silver airships in flight.

The bass rhythm pushes on as the saxophone captures chilled-out emotion, like a craft hovering above the horizon of the futuristic city below. The rhythmic heartbeat is colossal as the effulgent piano tones levitate with weightless precision above the explosive beat.

Cloudy sounds blow above a watery rush as the guitar takes hold of the melody, the artist effortlessly conveying arcing flight and a smooth passage above the bounds of the earth. Echoing tones are joined by the leaping saxophone as it paints pictures of free flight across a landscape of sky and misty veils of cloud.

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.”