Synth Single Review: “Digitalis” by SUNESIS

by Karl Magi

SUNESIS' “Digitalis” slips into existence with a single breath of organic sound, generating sensations of peace and nature, backed by a worshipful choir as bells contribute their warm luminosity. A beat with a steady pulse creates guidance, while notes with sparkling tones paint images of sunlight dappled on leaves and the world at peace.

Remembrance is sparked in me by the easy sonic flow, capturing the calm of a winter day or the serenity of a summer evening. Ringing with metallic elegance, bell-like tones carry a pattern of enfolding, deeply peaceful emotion that wraps me up in a velvet blanket. 

As the steady drums throb, a voice sings wordlessly with humanity and tenderness before the steady percussion slows as hollow bells create crystalline radiance and evoke the beauty and wonder of existence on Earth. SUNESIS has woven a tapestry that honours people and nature with memory and experience.

Synth Single Review: “Heart On The Line” by Palm Lakes

by Karl Magi

Palm Lakes' “Heart On The Line” cruises into being with uplifting brightness from a singing guitar and slipping drums, capturing an emotional journey with tender sensation. Ian Hardwick carries the vocals with gentleness and affectionate expression, his tones full of warm resonance.

As a guitar weaves a pattern of encouraging luminosity, the vocals cascade and the harmonizing performance adds depth to the smoothly dancing background. The vocals from Ian Hardwick have a thrilling youthfulness to them as Brandon Gan’s diamond-light guitar solo cries with smooth, dreamy dynamism that captures positive experiences.

Tim Hardwick’s drum beat unfurls along with the twinkling guitar and the climbing vocal performance explodes with exuberant sensations. A feeling of summery sun spills from the musical background while the two singers share expressive strength. Illuminated synth bursts with a joyfully encouraging melody and the two singers harmonize lusciously as the guitar glides with happy, easygoing feelings before silence falls.

Finding himself laughing in his sleep, the narrator tells the song's subject not to wake up because they've been working so hard lately for both of them. He says, "I'll be drinking by the ocean as long as you're around," as he is calling out "with my heart on the line" while he falls into familiar patterns.

Our storyteller adds, "Then you went and found those two," as the song has them dancing on the beach. He points out that it's been too long and now, "We're laughing like teenagers and swaying like the palms." As they hold hands, he says that it's amazing and, "At the end of the night, we'll be racing with the sun."

"Stars are falling and we're lost in this," as the narrator and the song's subject are caught in "every second of a moment that we can't resist." As the sky becomes a deeper blue, he adds, "Rest your head, it's just the taxi, the truth." He goes on to say, "So light it up and pull me in, so alive with you."

To conclude, our storyteller says, "We should be making love, we should be making up, racing with the sun, oh yeah!"

Synth Single Review: “Shanghai Tears” by Skylane Drive

by Karl Magi

Skylane Drive's “Shanghai Tears” is washed by rain as tones with crystal purity ring above a steadily vibrating underlayer and wind sweeps before technological notes surge with vague threat and drums rebound with shaping influence. A thousand razor edges slice from the tones, which move above a gem-like spill of light and a melodic pattern deep with mournful emotion evokes feelings of urban disconnection for me.

Undulating sounds create a shifting tension and hypnotic motion within the track while the drum beat adds balancing strength. Darkness seethes, just hidden under the surface, while brighter notes exhale with softly touching feelings. A sense of pain and emptiness in the endless city gives way to a gentle synth melody that is brighter and more hopeful.

Tones sparkle like tears and the underpinnings press forward as dynamic energy is joined by yearning strings. Images of the impersonal skyscrapers of a vast metropolis join the bereft emotions that permeate the track before the music closes.

Synth Single Review: “Skybeams” by Dimi Kaye & LYST

by Karl Magi

Dimi Kaye & LYST's “Skybeams” exudes spangled light from trumpeting tones echoing into open space with an excited energy, complemented by a gliding drum beat and silken chords in the distance. Rising luminescence suffuses me as the slowly expanding arpeggios undulate to create serenity and weightlessness.

Like tiny stars in a huge galaxy, notes levitate and Dimi Kaye's rich guitar tones spill out sensations of peace and caressing strength before panpipe notes float with breathy relaxation, deepening my feelings of peace. Dimi Kaye's guitar becomes an expression of pure tranquility and strength before sounds like reverent waves pour out as the arpeggios twirl and create space.

Panpipes extend like the slowly revolving arms of galaxies through the uncountable distances of outer space and Dimi Kaye launches a solo that combines exuberance and grace in a flow that intricately evokes the complexity of the solar system and beyond, while the gliding beat adds shape. As the track ends, intricacy fades into silence.