Synth Single Review: “One Hundred Miles” by Perfect Female Type

by Karl Magi

Perfect Female Type’s “One Hundred Miles” unfolds with hopeful life. The song starts as gossamer sounds glide along with slowly twinkling notes and flashes of brilliant light. A gargantuan drumbeat and propulsive bass move with arpeggios, swirling with neon luminescence before a melody trumpets with encouragement.

Jason Herrboldt’s voice is energizing, carrying a dreaming melody as steady underpinnings throb. The chorus shines out with exuberance and life as Jason Herrboldt captures the sensation of the lyrics. The sense of motivation bursting out from the words excites me as softly tapping drums add guidance.

The saxophone grabs me with a gut-deep feeling, tearing out with explosive vibrancy. The chorus floats with gripping emotion, reaching for the horizon. The saxophone slips in with vivacity and a feeling of engagement, its reedy voice crying to the heavens before silence falls.

“One hour to the night, five years go up in smoke,” as the narrator points out that there is nothing else to say. He adds, “another mile goes by, wrong or right, going through the motions until you see the light,” explaining that the song’s subject is just another lonely runaway.

Our storyteller says that “one hundred miles from tomorrow, you know you’ve got one night to outrun the sorrow,” as he points out that it is not the same and that “you’ve read your name in the stars tonight.” He adds that the subject is welcoming the lines on the open road and “bracing for the fight.”

“Turn down a different road, unlock another life,” while dreaming of a shelter from the storm, as the storyteller says, “it’s 4:00 a.m. and on the radio a message to the lonely, for anyone awake: you’re never truly on your own.”

Synth Single Review: “Montage” by GammaFlow

by Karl Magi

GammaFlow’s “Montage” creates unadulterated tranquility as it unfolds. The track comes to life as a resonating, slightly bending tone moves above steadily ticking percussion. Giant bass rumbles with dense lusciousness while airy tones drift past, transporting a melody full of compassionate gentleness.

The drumbeat creates smooth guidance while a tremulous, metallic synth floats with a melody that embodies pure serenity. The main melody unfurls like delicate clouds drifting across a warm sun, as a synth with a vocal quality moves with the massive underlayer. Chimes shimmer with disembodied lightness and a prismatic quality permeates the music, wafting me along on a summery zephyr full of delicacy.

The main melody, breathy and diaphanous, glistens above metallic notes that roam through the music. The track is full of balmy breezes while glittering chimes create phosphorescent radiance, the melody evoking water calmly lapping against a sandy shore. A vocal synth adds worshipful emotion and colossal bass reverberates before the track falls quiet.

Synth Single Review: “Tomorrow” by O.a.G.

by Karl Magi

O.a.G.’s “Tomorrow” is about waiting too long to say the things we need to say. The song begins as an undulating bassline moves while echoing vocals carry with a hushed delicacy. A synth carries a melody full of palpable affection as levitating notes hover above the springy underpinnings while Wesley Reid’s performance captures mingled need and loss as the background glides.

Wesley Reid’s voice climbs with heartbreaking emotion while the tentative melody touches me with its intensity of feeling. A steady underlayer adds form while reverberant vocals caress my ears and a fragile melody hovers. The vocals embody the emptiness and regret that permeate the music while the foundation throbs and smoothly glimmering tones glow like a sunset. The synth melody is full of aching tenderness while radiant tones flicker, and Wesley Reid’s voice trails through the music with softness and caring before the song slips to an end.

Our storyteller says that he and the song’s subject find themselves “worlds apart,” with no apologies and destroyed dreams. They are lonely in the icy silence, “in the wreckage of what was lost.” He wonders if they could try again because “I won’t wait, tangled words, what’s left unsaid,” and tomorrow words will be meaningless.

“No hope remains, no love, no sound, lost between the lines, faded and left behind,” as the cold quiet leaves them alone “in the weight of an empty room.” It feels like a waste of time as cracks begin to show and the narrator asks, “Is there something we need to say? Don’t wait another day,” because they are living on borrowed time and “we never know, but regrets can’t save today.”

As the song ends, our storyteller points out that time will not wait for unspoken words or “truthful words said much too late.” He adds, “No one is listening, we keep resisting, no words, no sound.”

Synth Single Review: “Memories of Apophis” by Millennium Falck

by Karl Magi

Millennium Falck’s “Memories of Apophis” speaks of apocalyptic doom for humanity. The track begins as rising darkness rumbles from gargantuan bass and a distorted news report moves with ghostly portent. Discomfort fills the track as a harsh, static-laden voiceover broadcasts existential dread while colossal bass growls and crushing heaviness punches from the drums.

Chaos and fear touch the music while the gruff density beneath grows more intimidating. Destructive drums shudder as disembodied voices rise in a chorus of fear, while smashing percussion creates a militaristic march. Uneasy, twisting vocals crawl with growing worry while the string section cries out with bittersweet emotion, carrying a melody full of loss.

The strings rise, reaching out to touch me with their gentleness and providing a clear contrast to the track’s dark message. A steadily rippling note pattern is joined by the voice of a ship computer speaking of systems going critical before the track ends.