Synth Single Review: “Going Backwards” by Out Runner

by Karl Magi

Out Runner’s “Going Backwards” draws me into warm nostalgia with a tranquil flow. Rebounding with solidity and percussive weight, the underpinnings cruise as Out Runner’s fingers draw out a sailing guitar line. Pure cool exudes from a slipping synth, impressions of blue light and relaxation taking hold of my mind.

As I’m transported to an ultra-sleek 1980s penthouse, I imagine gazing out over night falling on a tropical bay. Sunlit peace, like a shaft of light piercing cloud, falls on Out Runner’s guitar, which shimmers like a midsummer evening. 

Eliciting feelings of remembrance and irresistible calm, the guitar moves like a powerful car sliding down a palm-lined boulevard, reflecting neon light. Pulsing with soothing sensations, notes float as though carried by aquamarine water. Out Runner’s purely expressive guitar weaves passionate dreams that cascade and fly, carried out above shaping weight. Serenity exhales from fragile notes and silence falls.

Synth Single Review: “Favourite” by Natalie Gray

by Karl Magi

Natalie Gray’s “Favourite” sparkles with effervescent desire as a disco groove cascades along with spangled synth. As a hip-swinging beat flows easily, Natalie Gray’s voice projects pure need and sensuality with a bouncing liveliness and sense of fun. Glowball glitter from spinning tones spills joy through my heart while the metronomic beat locks into an undeniable sway. 

Exuding passionate happiness, dancing notes interlock with Natalie Gray’s soul-dripping, honey-sweet voice. Broadcasting pure emotion, a guitar entangles in a blues-influenced, fiercely expressive solo, joined by a rich keyboard as Natalie Gray’s vocals erupt with unadulterated need. Strings shimmer while the funk bass creates a cool underpinning before the song ends.

Playfully teasing, the narrator says, “Only you can turn me on, I’m just your machine,” as she asks the song’s subject to “plug in and press my button, baby,” and follow the instructions on the screen. She adds, “Let me be your favourite, your only favourite, the one that you love.”

As our storyteller says, “Brush off the dust and I’m ready to go,” she adds that the song’s subject makes her feel brand new. She concludes, “Remember the rush when you held me close? It’s like I was made for you.”

Synth Single Review: “Tearstained Uprising” by Absolute Valentine

by Karl Magi

Absolute Valentine’s “Tearstained Uprising” explores what happens when heartbreak becomes defiance as growing tension crackles through quickly tumbling tones. Ramping energy echoes before a hammer blow strikes with ringing power, jagged foundational force flowing outward. Lacerating ferocity explodes through rhythm as notes bend and fall in ghostly torsion. 

Disconnection slips from the melody and a delicate luminescence suffuses the lead synth. Stormy sensations tear at the music, evoking the emotional depths of broken feeling before it shifts toward rebirth. Drums like massive heartbeats thunder while tightly trembling synth flickers, catching the complexity of a rapidly shifting emotional state. 

Defiant beauty fills an opaline, pained melody as it climbs above urgently hammering percussion, reflecting resistance against giving in to tragedy. Transporting me through passion, loss and renewal, the melody reaches out with hurt tempered by a vision of future healing, before guttural heaviness shifts underneath and silence descends.

Synth Single Review: “Paradise” by Future Analog and Mayah Camara

by Karl Magi

Future Analog and Mayah Camara’s “Paradise” declares an all-consuming desire as shifting density moves below notes that broadcast abiding ardour. As it gains strength, a bright synth glistens, while fullness and depth flow from Mayah Camara’s vocals, catching emotion and transmitting it in rich tones. 

Sailing on looming power, dreaming hope and affection are carried by her smouldering vocal performance as it unfolds in haunting passion. Intense force propels the track as the soul-gripping vocals transport me through realms of remembered love and longing. 

Great strength grips the underpinnings while the vocals shiver with heartfelt expression, delving into the burning sensation of true desire. An irresistible connection permeates Future Analog’s slightly shadowed melody as it is lit by sonic supernovae before closing out.

“A combination of dreams, lust, and rapid heartbeats” defines love for the storyteller. She can’t explain how she feels or what the song’s subject does to her. She says, “I really want to give in to you, oh boy if you only knew,” as she wonders if there’s a lot she wouldn’t do. She asks, “Tell me would you buy a premium?”

“You make me feel so good, better than I should,” as our narrator points out that the song’s subject takes her higher into paradise. She adds, “You’re taking me all the way up, no one desires the pride I get in your eyes.” She continues that it’s paradise and, “Oh, I think I found my vice.”

As long as the other person is near her, nothing is impossible, and “there’s only obstacles if I’m taken away from my baby.” Time comes to a halt when they’re together and “everything’s sweet, nothing’s sour, it’s all like a tower.” Feeling as though she’s on a pyre, her drive is the song subject’s love. She concludes, “I love you ’cause you know it now.”