Synth Single Review: “Awakening” by SEA OF SIGNS

by Karl Magi

SEA OF SIGNS’ “Awakening” is a silken journey in sound. The piece opens with reverberant piano floating into open space before a heavy yet calming beat moves alongside gently snapping drums. Full-bodied tones carry a melody that is balmy and deeply soothing, drifting with slow-growing awareness. Xylophone-like notes melt serenely as a rebounding rhythm gradually shapes the music.

Echoing tones shimmer while the xylophone flits past like a gentle hand brushing skin. The beat falls away as rippling notes spread outward and the background becomes an expanse of tranquil feeling. Elevated tones twinkle like stars at morning’s edge while rounded chords expand in circular motion.

A brassy sheen fills the lead synth as it flows forward and light tapping percussion slips between the textures. Unctuous layers wash together, moving outward in meditative calm, as the piano slowly draws the piece to a tender close.

Synth Single Review: “Tempus Ruinae” by XIII Nights

by Karl Magi

XIII Nights’ “Tempus Ruinae” captures light, shadow, hope and ruin. The piece opens with gradually swelling notes whirling in arpeggio as dominant bass surges in a maelstrom and drums drive with fearsome propulsion. Sawtoothed bass slices through while percussion smashes with unstoppable force. A synth drifts outward in melancholy lines as broad arpeggios support the explosive rhythm.

Rippling strings join the low end power, reaching like tendrils spreading outward. As arpeggios continue spinning, orchestral strikes flash and elevated tones cry out with haunted precision. Dramatic tension courses through a contemplative melody carried on mournful horns, tentative and elegiac. I feel a welter of varied emotion pour through me as the track unfolds

The higher synth melody asserts strength against the fragility of the background line. Shattering bass snarls while swirling tones intermingle in misted tenderness. Percussion returns alongside heavy low end as arpeggios spin faster and high notes flare with dynamism, carrying the track to its resonant close.

Synth Single Review: “Taking Sides” by Saturday AM

by Karl Magi

Saturday AM’s “Taking Sides” explores the painful side of love. The song begins as piercing synth lines intermingle with minor-key tension while a storming guitar charges forward. The drums pound as Aaron Boyd’s voice reaches out with ferocious feeling, encapsulating loss and struggle. Matt Freeland’s guitar cries out with tempestuous emotion before ricocheting drums support Aaron Boyd’s gutsy vocal expression and the bass throbs beneath.

The guitar slices into the music with assured intensity as the vocals soar with fierce energy and the low end batters relentlessly. Matt Freeland’s guitar tears through the track with sinewy force while Boyd propels the vocals, seizing me with his commanding performance. The rhythm becomes an attacking wall as the vocals climb with pain and a raging guitar tide churns triumphantly. As Aaron Boyd’s voice drifts into the distance, the low end strikes once more and the music fades.

While waiting for the song’s subject to return, our storyteller confesses that “It came on suddenly, wrote everything I couldn’t say,” capturing the thoughts that drifted through him with his “heart ripped open.” To him, it was like reliving the past, with all the games they played to “hide ourselves away and destroy the signs in our way.” They would do anything to “feel the blood rise, like bringing a knife into a gunfight.”

The narrator insists they will stay alive while “drawing lines and taking sides,” pretending they are fine and telling themselves yet another lie. He reflects that “it’s like hell but like home, the only one I’ve known,” before asking the question that lingers painfully: “If this is love, then tell me why it hurts so bad? Why do I keep coming back to try?”

Synth Single Review: “Sight Unseen” by Stacy Gabriel

by Karl Magi

Stacy Gabriel’s “Sight Unseen” is a balmy sonic journey. The track commences with a heaving bassline and floating tones that enclose me like a welcoming blanket. The drums provide a steady rhythm as the glistening lead synth transmits a melody that breathes with gentle life. Panpipes exhale in billows while bending notes cry out with enfolding softness, bathing me in calm.

The main melody flows like a prismatic river as the drifting background swirls into faceted brightness. Distant panpipes contribute touching affection while the lead synth hovers with phosphorescent elegance and the rhythm pulses steadily beneath. As the track spills magenta light, rounded notes expand and chimes create tiny sparks that flicker in a firmament of caressing sound.

The panpipes breathe out melancholy while the background fills with pastel mist and trickling tones swirl into a radiant halo. The main melody conveys inspiration in tranquil motion as wide-sounding chords grow and peace pours outward. Panpipes create the sensation of being suspended in a column of warm water while sparkling notes shimmer and the rebounding underpinnings guide the music to a silken, delicate close