Synth EP Review: “Along The Bay’’ by BMX Escape

BMX Escape’s “Along The Bay” is full of complicated emotions, beautifully layered synth sounds and heart touching melodies. In combination with the guest talents of By Forever featured on “The Bay” this EP weaves a nostalgic and touching tapestry.

“A Date With Jody” comes to life as a steadily rumbling rhythm joins elevated, intensely shiny tones which are met by a sweeping breath of wind. Cascading, flute-like notes float delicately while the main melody irradiates the music with positive sensations, filling me with hope and restless joy. Bells ring and a saxophone adds heartening dynamism while the heavy-hitting drums propel the track.

A jazz influence radiates from the warmly reedy saxophone as it fills me with encouragement and lighthearted energy. The lead synth suffuses the music with triumphant, youthful power that speaks of possibility and unbounded affection. Delicate chimes add a minor-key shadow as police sirens call out and darkness fills the music while the foundational pulse growls.

More positive energy suffuses the guitar as it leaps into the music with wild luminosity, adding another layer of explosive warmth before silence falls.

Lusciously revolving notes join washing waves to commence *Along The Bay (2025).* The underlying pulse becomes huge as the snapping drum beat punches forward and the resonant synth carries an excitement-filled melodic line. The main melody drifts on round tones that float with breezy relaxation as the beat presses on. Gem-like notes sparkle like sunlight as bending tones carry a melody rife with thrilling strength while twirling notes buoy it up.

After a darkly shaded pause, the guitar charges with fierce power while the raised synth blasts out victoriously above it. Excitement seizes me as I picture a powerful supercar leaping from turn to turn with its engine bellowing. The guitar slashes as lushly glimmering notes dance above the wandering synth that planes through the music with dreaming emotion.

The underpinnings surge on as tranquil tones sail out while the track radiates tropical warmth and irrepressible energy. The music ends with a madly cascading synth solo that erupts with all the drama of an Italian thoroughbred car.

“The Bay” begins as a cutting synth descends while a rushing rhythm leaps into the track. The lead singer’s resonating vocals carry the needy lyrics as a brilliant synth suffuses the music. As the piano line propels the music, By Forever’s voice rises with fierce emotion above the bouncing beat. Shadowy notes briefly tumble and the vocals climb upward, By Forever’s performance stabbing broken feelings into my heart.

The foundation jabs hard as By Forever takes hold of the words and brings them to life. Giant drums flourish and diamond notes trickle before the piano adds another dynamic layer. The synth shines along with the electrifying vocal performance while the sound of the waves briefly washes through.

A half-speed beat moves with By Forever’s hurting expression as glowing tones intertwine with the thick bass. The drums flourish and the chorus flies through the music with intensity while the tones below rumble and a brassy synth exudes coruscating light before the song comes to an end.

Our narrator wanders the streets on Saturday night “looking for this feeling that got away.” He doesn’t know how to get the feeling back no matter how hard he tries. He goes on to say that “all along the bay, you just wanted to get away, wanted to run away from all of the feelings that are holding you back tonight.” The song's subject isn’t giving up the fight and is “holding on tonight.”

As darkness closes in on the storyteller, he says that he is “out on the edge reaching out for your touch tonight.” He wonders if the city is really as bright as it looks or if it’s a trick of the light. He asks, “Is it all in vain because it faded away?” He speaks of a fire that burns deeply inside of him, “longing for this feeling to make a bright return,” as he asks how he ever let it slip right past his gaze.

In conclusion, our narrator says, “The sea’s whispers are lost in the sound of the underground and my mind is rushing a million miles, I want to turn back the clock and I'm trying to make it out here alive.”

Dynamic percussion bursts as heavy bass pumps and a spinning arpeggio gleams with fierce luminosity to start “The Love Has Gone.” A gentle synth melody slides with laid-back emotion as the rhythmic weight below drives on. The lead synth is piercing and carries the dreamy, wanting melody above a quickly oscillating underlayer and crisp drums.

The electric bass moves into a funky, half-speed pulse as a string-like synth is joined by a guitar that grips my soul with its fervent feeling. Active percussion jams with dense underpinnings and elevated notes swirl with summer light. As the melody slips out, I feel myself touched by the loss within it.

Below the other sounds, the percussion kicks out a driving beat while tiny, elevated tones wink in the distance. The lead synth solo is deep and full of sincere engagement as the guitar comes in to howl with ardent need and a feeling of loss before the song ends.

Synth Single Review: “Coming Home” by Donna Lewis & David Lowe

by Karl Magi

Donna Lewis & David Lowe’s “Coming Home” reflects warm affection as it evolves. The song begins with Donna Lewis’s hushed voice carrying a wistfully touching melody as the smoothly gliding rhythm shapes the music. A guitar strums with heartwarming brightness as Donna Lewis’s free, airy voice soars with affection and a sense of homecoming.

David Lowe weaves his production with intense love and soothing emotion here. Glimmering notes levitate as the vocals wrap me in a blanket of comforting warmth above the steadily snapping drum beat. String-like synth textures soften the background while Donna Lewis’s moving voice reaches out like a gentle embrace. The guitar strums as the vocals slide with deep caring and the rhythm adds a guiding pattern. Strings move with rolling drums to deepen the feelings of return and tenderness before the song ends.

Sentimentality seizes the storyteller as she says that she feels it every time “when I’m heading back on the long road and I see those hillside lights.” She’s coming home to the song’s subject. When she feels the other person embracing her and the “loving love that you give me,” she’s in her happy, joyous place as she sees them smile.

“Standing on top of the mountain, I can see those Christmas lights,” so she travels down the mountain “with my faithful angel by my side.” She can see all of the lights as everybody dances happily with “all the beauty surrounding, hands holding hands.”

Synth Single Review: “Caught in Between” by Out Runner

by Karl Magi

Out Runner’s “Caught in Between” explores a complicated web of love as it unfolds. The track commences as a scintillating synth billows out with caressing sensations while a solidly guiding rhythm rebounds above a bass tide. The guitar is silky smooth and broadcasts pained affection in Out Runner’s talented hands, slipping through the music like fingers running gently through a lover’s hair.

A synth sparkles like new love above the lushly growing foundation and background glow. The main melody is soothing like a lover’s touch on your skin as the underpinnings press on. I feel tension drop away for a moment as I contemplate the track’s ardent emotion. As a sweeping sound slides past, a more intense feeling fills the music with conflicted caring while the underlayer moves forward.

Out Runner plays a solo that encapsulates both the desire and the complexity of the emotion within the track, his skillful fingers weaving intricate patterns. The drums continue to rebound before the track breathes quietly out into silence.

Synth Single Review: “Skeletal” by Jana Tyrrell

by Karl Magi

Jana Tyrrell’s “Skeletal” radiates powerful need and vulnerability. The song starts as a roaming melody floats with disconnected tones while computerized notes shift. A massively looming rhythm moves with Jana Tyrrell’s whispering voice, which slowly gains strength as the background reaches with darkly intertwining tendrils.

Jana Tyrrell releases her voice with dreamy shadow as the gigantic beat collides with sharp-edged tones. A guitar trembles with spectral energy as the towering foundation adds even more darkness. As Jana Tyrrell calls out, I am galvanized by the way power rips forth from her voice while the beat shatters.

Bass undulates and Jana Tyrrell’s vocals glide above the threatening power below, as the guitar slashes with elevated strength. The vocals are cut by a minor-key guitar solo that blazes with intense emotion as the hammering beat goes on. A skittering rhythm moves beneath the haunting vocal performance as a synth trickles through the music with contrasting peace. The guitar has a ghostly sensation and a choral sound floats above tremulous notes as silence falls.

Our narrator opens the song saying, “Feed me, until I choke, I’m ready to receive your wisdom.” She wants the song’s subject to strip her down to her bones and “take me, in pieces, wherever you wanna go.” She asks to be given a sign as the other person comes up “through the waves” to show their light to her alone. “She’s running out of time,” so come to me now when the sky’s like fire, as she asks the song’s subject if they’re calling for her.

“Up in the stars there is a paradise where the mind roams free,” and that’s where the storyteller wants to be. She’ll “walk over stones until my soles bleed,” as she promises, “I’m the best of them so please pick me!” To conclude, she says she followed their breadcrumb trail and “deciphered all your codes, purified every part of my soul.”