Synth Single Review: “Closer” by Drew Knight & Aisle 9

by Karl Magi

Drew Knight & Aisle 9’s “Closer” is a meditation on love and desire. The song starts as gargantuan bass vibrates and swells while smoothly rebounding drums move with Drew Knight’s deep velvet voice as it carries the mysterious melody.

As the background flows with tenderness, a percussive pulse shapes the music and Drew Knight captures the lyrics with fervent desire. The rich vocals carry the song’s sentiment with ardent strength, compelling me as they do so. The beat continues to surge powerfully while the bass adds additional propulsion.

Aisle 9 creates a beautiful background that glides in coruscating whorls as arpeggios twirl and the vocals float. A reverberant synth throbs as the rhythm thuds and choral voices ring while the arpeggios move with lissome ease, and the song comes to an end as radiant brightness spills out into silence.

Our storyteller feels that he’s still in time, so he’ll just let it pass because “it feels too good to be mine, like you could disappear tonight.” He says that “if this is all we get, I don’t want to second guess” or look back, so he asks the song’s subject to save their breath.

“We don’t want tonight to end,” so the narrator wants the song’s subject to pull him in closer. He doesn’t want to let them go, but instead wants to “get closer, closer, closer.” He doesn’t trust forever, so he’ll “take what I can get right now.” He doesn’t want to lose control of “something I never had.”

Synth Single Review: Benny Mardones’ “Into The Night" reimagined by All The Damn Vampires

by Karl Magi

All The Damn Vampires’ reimagining of Benny Mardones’ “Into The Night" is an exploration of dark and yearning love. The song begins as distant chiming notes drift like a half-remembered dream and the softly throbbing percussion is joined by Ryan Rose's broken, trembling voice carrying the ghostly melody, before Davey Oberlin’s guitar thunders and the vocals climb with blazing passion.

Reverent notes glow as the ghostly synth hovers and the bursting rhythm drives forward. Ryan Rose’s voice is accompanied by the churning guitar, flashing chimes and muscled underlayer. His performance is full of piercing emotion and deep expression, capturing the mingled darkness and desire within the words.

Davey Oberlin’s guitar roars with ferocious strength as the chorus rises like a phoenix burning while the underpinnings drive on. Beams of synth light flash as the low end drops away and wordless vocals drift with emotive grace.

The guitar and drums explode with raging energy again while Ryan Rose's ragged voice tears into the music. Choir-like sounds add to the uplifting strength of Ryan Rose's performance as the lyrics are thrust forth with intense feeling. The percussion bounces again and the mingled vocals leap into flight before silence falls.

The vampiric narrator sings about being drawn to the young woman that he has turned out of necessity. Despite the obstacles, he feels fierce love for her. He imagines taking her away into the night and showing her a love unlike anything she’s ever experienced.

He reflects on how fragile dreams and relationships can be, but knows that he’d wait forever for her. His love reaches immeasurable depths as does his desire to protect her from a world that doesn’t understand their connection.

Synth Single Review: “A Distant Memory” by LightSource & Sleepless-Nights

by Karl Magi

LightSource & Sleepless-Nights’ “A Distant Memory” exudes peaceful remembrance as it unfolds. The track opens as massive bass swells beneath synth waves, expanding outward like ripples on a still pond. After cymbals sweep, the rhythm hits powerfully as the raised synth floats like memories in a meditative mind, reaching out to glide and fade again.

While the underpinnings throb, Sleepless-Nights plays a melody full of peaceful recollection that curls around me and wraps me with gentleness, like soft-focus memories replayed in my dreams. The underlayer pulses as diamond tones slip past, evoking the wistful remembrances of days gone by.

Sleepless-Nights plays a solo full of heart and nostalgia, washing over me in a soothing tide that burns with quiet intensity. The low-end waves continue to undulate as the entangling guitar creates an atmosphere soaked in tranquility and affectionate thoughts of past events before silence falls.

Synth Single Review: “Taxi to the Airport” by Sonic Gap & OSC

by Karl Magi

Sonic Gap & OSC’s “Taxi to the Airport” creates an atmosphere of ’80s urban cool. The track begins as softly twinkling notes hover in the lusciously reverberant background. As the broken percussive beat moves with rippling notes alive with glittering light, the rhythm locks in more solidly while smoothly slipping tones join a bending synth that cruises with ultra-easy motion, capturing images of slipping past office towers lit in the twilight. The melody is compelling as it draws pictures of cruising through a slick 1980s world filled with luxury penthouses and black-and-red sushi bars.

The piano adds jazzy emotional depth while the sparkling synth glistens like neon lights reflected on wet pavement. Chimes flicker as the piano chords shift with chilled-out momentum, carrying me along with all of their vibey cool. The piano melody glides with sliding ease, evoking a rainy Tokyo night and smoke curling across a busy cocktail bar. The main melody returns on the synth while the groovy underlayer presses on. Tiny notes gleam like city lights reflected in a calm bay before the track comes to a close.