Glass & Afterglow

by Karl Magi

Here’s my second synth-inspired vignette. I hope you’ll enjoy it! Please find the playlist below!

As the sun slowly sets over the ocean, she stands in her penthouse window, looking out at the city spread beneath her. Night falls and tiny lights begin to come on in all of the buildings, warmly glowing as people rush by on the street below. The room in which she stands has a high ceiling and is furnished in elegant style, clean and simple. On her stereo, smooth jazz plays and low ambient lighting adds a diffuse luminosity to the space.

She idly trails her hand along the glass table beside her, her sharply cut bangs framing her pale face and bright red lips. Glancing at the skyline, images of him drift past. It’s hard to believe it’s been two weeks of silence and attempted distraction.

She knows she shouldn’t chase after him in her mind, it’s a waste of time and makes her feel weak. She sighs and looks back into her penthouse, seeing its clean lines and contemplating the cool toned walls. A wave-edged Italian mirror reflects the pink light filling the room as she catches a glimpse of herself. Her reflection is all angles, her black dress wedge-shaped with razor edges. Did she cut him with those edges, the ones she developed to reach the place she’d reached? She shakes her head, jaw setting, eyes flashing, and turns away.

A wall of glass blocks diffuses pale light leaking in from the kitchen, bending and distorting it like ice seen from below. The room is decorated with art as cold and clean as the sharpness of her emotion, which cuts to the core. She clenches her fists, then loosens them. Turning away from the city view, she strolls back into the kitchen. The island is monolithic, white-sided and black-topped.

She rests her elbows on it and stares through the wavy light on the other side of the full-length glass block wall. Stainless steel glints around the room, and the black countertop dull-shines in the delicate lighting. She tries to settle against it, but the sharp edges dig in. She craves something soft and cradling, something warm.

In the cut and thrust of the corporate world that fills her days, all she finds is ice. For a moment, love brought respite, but now only emptiness remains.

Synth Single Review: “Night Dissolves” by Neon Highway

by Karl Magi

Neon Highway’s “Night Dissolves” moves through nocturnal territory and desire. Crushing bass rumbles far below with threatening force as wind-like textures sweep through angular rhythms and pounding drums. Unsettled sounds flicker before the main melody emerges with haunting luminosity, charged with anticipatory uncertainty.

Sibilant textures whisper beneath the pumping beat. The melody is sharp and clean, riding the heavy underpinnings as echoing vocals drift. The lyrics confess, “Oh, I feel it tonight… that look in your eyes got me begging for more,” and the yearning transfers powerfully through the music. Sensations of a night rich with possibility and deep with passion permeate the track and fill it with pure expression.

Metallic sounds reverberate with ghostly emotion, carrying a drifting minor-key melody lifted by a brighter synth. Passionate vocals glow as cutting melodic edges shine against an unstoppable heartbeat. After the bass drops away, silence falls.

Synth Single Review: “As the World Turns’’ by DRUMxWAVE & Beachdolls

 by Karl Magi 

DRUMxWAVE & Beachdolls’ “As the World Turns” is an expression of abiding love and commitment. Tentatively trembling synth textures vibrate alongside colossal drums, while an illuminating guitar carries a caressing melodic line. Warmth swells as Jessica Ess’ honeyed vocals embrace the dreamy lyrics with affection.

DRUMxWAVE’s beat sets a solid pulse as Brian Skeel’s ringing guitar shines with encouraging brilliance. Ess’ silken voice captures deep emotional engagement, while DRUMxWAVE’s vocals express care and connection. The chorus encapsulates the passionate links between the song’s characters.

Underneath it all, rhythmic underpinnings provide conviction. As the voices intertwine, they complement one another and the song slides gently to its end on smoothly undulating tones.

The first narrator describes the second narrator’s voice as “a beacon of light in the dark.” As the ashes fell around her, they struck the ground and lit sparks. She goes on to say that “when the sky fell upon us, I was staring into your eyes.” Their bodies collided, with “life as we know it on a Saturday night,” the thunder and the silence making it feel like a dream, followed by the reminder that “one last touch could be the end of me, my love.”

“Take my hand, I want you to love me as hard as you can,” is what the first storyteller says to the second, adding that “maybe when it’s over and it ends, we can begin again.” She points out that when everything burns, she’ll keep on running “as the world turns as fast as it can.” She goes on to say, “As far as we know, there’s no tomorrow.”

As structures crumbled around them, the second narrator met the first on a Saturday evening, “on our moonlit getaway.” He doesn’t know her name, but they’re out of time, and now “we’re making love in the ruins under the city lights.”

MicroMatScenes - Fast Forward

Review by Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

MicroMatScenes’ "Fast Forward" travels through life from youthful idealism to the challenges of growing and experiencing life, finally reaching a point of acceptance and the desire to move forward positively. Each of these stages is detailed through MicroMatScenes’ skillful use of synth, talented guitar playing, and melodic sensibilities that capture mood and atmosphere. The end result is an album that is both a journey and a musical experience that grips me and keeps me listening.

First of all, I want to discuss the way in which MicroMatScenes deploys his synths on "Fast Forward". He’s able to capture and evoke emotional states through all of the different tones and textures available to him with impressive ability. He draws listeners in and outlines the various feelings and sensations that might have been experienced at the time represented by each track. As they weave together, each different sound and tonal quality produces more powerful imagery.

I also want to mention the skillful and expressive guitar performances that fill "Fast Forward". MicroMatScenes shows off his full range of ability and sensitivity in his playing. The way each guitar solo suits the mood of the tracks allows him to reach the listener’s emotional core, further intensifying the journey and pulling one deeper into the arc of the album.

The melodies MicroMatScenes has written on "Fast Forward" are another key part of its immersive nature. Each melodic moment transforms into pure feeling, acting as powerfully as lyrics in delivering the mood and state of mind of each stage of life explored.

My Favourite Tracks Analyzed

“Running Away With You” comes to life as quickly clapping percussion moves with iridescent chimes. Expanding sounds bounce with chopped-up vocals and rebounding percussion, creating a rushing feeling. A bursting rhythm adds exciting propulsion as a sense of escape permeates the track. A tripping synth creates hopeful brilliance, while distantly choppy vocals add a warm feeling.

The charging beat emphasizes the sensation of running as MicroMatScenes’ guitar jumps in with thrilling dynamism, creating images of freedom and new possibilities as it burns through the music. I enjoy the optimistic nature of the melody as MicroMatScenes’ guitar unwinds with joy. The cut-up vocals contribute unbounded energy as the sharp-edged foundations cut cleanly.

The continual motion evokes feelings of lightness and release. A vocal sample drifts in and out to heighten the drama before the guitar is unleashed, flying with unfettered happiness above the charging underpinnings. Impressions of open horizons suffuse the music as the drumbeat snaps. Rolling tones intermingle while the underlayer continues to dance and hollow-sounding percussion moves with ease as the track bounces to an end.

A glowing electric keyboard intermingles with an actively intertwining bassline and thumping kick drum as “Synthscothäque” begins. The beat becomes unstoppable, joined by tapping drums and chords that sweep with exultant luminosity. The main melody is full of celebration as Rolling notes glitter and a tight synth figure wriggles groovily while the rhythm adds shape.

Brilliantly sparkling notes rise with encouragement as the steady low end locks into a heartbeat. The panpipe synth has a slightly wandering quality, contributing positive emotion while delicately sweeping sounds move around the radiant chords. After another shining moment, sunlit tones fill me with abandon and dancing dynamism as the continually throbbing underpinnings frolic.

A ringing electric piano is sliced by sharper notes as the ethereally breathy pan pipes cascade with irrepressible pleasure. The low end bursts while incandescent synth adds more radiance. The main melody erupts again, clearing away all of the world’s worries with coruscating brilliance. Groovy percussion continues to drive as euphoric notes slip past panpipes carrying the song out on a tide of gossamer ecstasy as swirling tones fade away.

“Remote Control” opens as actively intertwining notes sparkle and bubble, supported by rushing drums. The main melody is carried on a diffuse, gleaming synth that bops with irrepressible dynamism, while flaring notes add intense contrast. MicroMatScenes’ guitar unwinds with freewheeling madness, contributing ferocious light as a springy melody dances on illuminating tones.

The guitar flies with a feeling of ease as computerized notes add a technological sensation. I enjoy the inspiring emotion that fills the guitar performance as it climbs through the music with soaring encouragement. The main melody has a quirky joyfulness as it rebounds and sings above the steady underlayer.

Once again, the slicing guitar vaults with uncontrollable elation and a tightly popping melody adds a youthful, irrepressible emotional core. MicroMatScenes carries the song with his guitar performance, surrounding it with notes that fill the space with lightness.

Expansive, luminously beaming notes are joined by ticking percussion to kick off “I Love You Girl.” An ethereal vocal sample floats as a pattern of chords exudes optimistic light and delicate notes coalesce with opalescent tones. Massive percussion echoes in a smooth rhythm as tripping sounds move and a rounded synth glows with affection and tenderness, gleaming like the dawn.

The lead synth has a silky shine, full of compelling passion and desire. Echoing drums move with rattling sounds and softly slipping tones as the lead synth sails through the music with soft-edged ardour, while steadily pulsing, glimmering notes hover above.

The main melody pulsates with caring, impassioned feeling as entangling, clean notes add a sunny richness. Panpipes exhale while nasal-sounding tones carry a melody steeped in intense love, and a jazzy synth solo unwinds with warmth. The underpinnings flow and guide as notes sparkle like diamonds and the main melody cries out with joyful emotion before the track comes to an end.

“Future Lost” starts with a quickly revolving, chiming melodic pattern and a thudding kick drum. A sense of drama permeates the music as the repeating figure hypnotizes me with its shadowed sensation. Whispering voices drift alongside a gently hovering synth before the percussion drives forward. As steadily repeating, popping sounds move beneath the surface, the main melody sweeps in with majesty and melancholy, filled with a feeling of adventure.

More aching emotion pours into this melody, capturing me with the dreaming pain it embodies. The synth flickers with brokenhearted brightness while a continually driving low end presses forward. Arpeggiating notes twirl as the main melody flows with loss and the rhythm shapes the music. The lead synth carries the melody with wistful nostalgia, punctuated by heartache, while the underlayer throbs and swirling patterns coil beneath.

The synth drops away as computerized tones fade, then the beat explodes again. A new melody emerges, thrilling and speedy, still heavy with mournful emotion despite its dynamism. Trumpeting notes flash with a hint of hope mixed with uncertainty as ringing tones flicker and voices whisper. As the song ends, a sense of possibility beyond the fears of a lost future arises, the pulse strong beneath an arcing melody.

Spectral bells ring as dark sounds sweep and haunting notes float to commence “Paura in the Dark.” Tumbling bells create fear and tension before thudding percussion heightens the sense of drama. A whispered voice speaks as the slamming rhythm drives forward, while sliding sounds add shadow and tightly wound notes fly nervously through the air.

As the chimes flicker, the main melody drifts with ghostly sensations, while lacerating sounds snarl in the depths. Orchestral hits smack sharply as the percussion taps with power. The main melody is heavy with approaching danger, mingled with melancholy, and it grips me with its emotional force, emphasizing horror and an imminent, frightening threat.

The broadly illuminating, echoing synth draws me in with a feeling of wild danger and raw strength, tinged with pain as the pounding foundation presses on. Refulgent tones gleam while the pipe organ churns, amplifying the terror. Rising chords cry out one final time before the track ends.

“Sunrise Road 2024” starts off with intertwining, glittering notes, like sunlight sparkling on a car’s paintwork. A trumpeting synth cries out with idealism and light-hearted joy. Actively leaping, metallic sounds rattle as glimmering chords spill outward, while the underlayer drives with rhythmic precision. Radiance sparks from the lead synth before MicroMatScenes’ guitar carries a melody deep with uplift and progress.

Delicate chimes, like chips of diamond, flicker as the foundation pulsates and funky bass adds another layer. I enjoy the feelings of freedom and the open road that permeate MicroMatScenes’ guitar playing, as it soars with happiness and release. The lead synth exudes similar sunlit emotion while the electric piano adds warming light.

The beat is subtle as the main synth melody glints and the guitar flies, capturing forward motion, filling me with joyful liveliness. The bass and drums form a quickly rushing pattern while the background slides silkily, and the track becomes softly muffled and caressing as it ends.

The narrator speaks of nostalgia as a disease from which there is no cure as “Walking Away With Me” opens. He goes on to say that it grips you and takes you to worlds both familiar and unknown. As the voiceover unwinds, the bass pulses slowly underneath. The narrator points out that nostalgia reminds one of happy times in the past and that “you yourself are destined to become a memory for the ones you love.”

Slowly shining notes ripple as the rhythm gently shapes the underpinnings. The bass continues to pulsate as drifting notes lull me into a thoughtful reverie, and the melody captures the voiceover’s emotions, both painful and warm. Smooth notes caress the underlayer as the drumbeat slowly reverberates. Sun-warmed synth shines with tenderness as the steady foundation moves forward.

The main melody dreams and hurts, all the mingled feelings of memory combining. The lead synth becomes more uplifting, injecting a positive feeling, while luminosity reflects from diamantine tones. As the music fades, the melody sings once more and lustrous guitar adds a reverent ending.

Conclusion

"Fast Forward" is a heartfelt and deeply personal journey that becomes a universal exploration of what it means to be human, resulting in instrumental synth music with emotional core and beauty that keeps me wanting to listen.