Synth Single Review: “Going Nowhere” by Fonz Tramontano & Calida J

by Karl Magi

Fonz Tramontano & Calida J’s “Going Nowhere” is illuminated by cascades of muted brilliance which spill in waves above the echoing beat, guiding the melody with its feelings of remembrance and affection. Calida J’s vulnerable performance transmits a complex emotional tapestry, driven by the drums.

Emptiness and yearning for what has gone pour through me, captured by the tremble in Calida J’s silky vocals. The underlayer moves steadily while a moonlit melodic pattern weaves a tale of loving and losing, the distinct sensations within the vocals adding to the painful memory before the melody slides like a fragile dream, Fonz Tramontano creating support for the outstanding vocals as gentleness and need mingle and silence falls.

Musing that "it's funny how life works out, sometimes things just come undone," our storyteller reminisces about the love she shared with the song's subject. She has no doubt because his words were carved across her heart, as he said, "take my hand, we'll take it slow, we've got a lot to share." He wanted her to hold him tightly, never letting go and he reassured her that he wasn't going anywhere.

However the situation changed and the narrator lost the song's subject. She says, "I miss you so much I can barely breathe, sometimes the ground falls away from me." She hopes that she'll see him "someday in eternity" because life feels interminable without him there. She concludes, "if only love could keep you alive, you would live forever, I miss you by my side."

Synth Single Review: “Purple Dream” by Binary Affair

by Karl Magi

Binary Affair’s “Purple Dream” establishes a plaintive drift above bass currents, calling to mind a city sinking into a neon-lit night, sliced by blinding notes before the rhythmic undercurrent thunders to increase the shadowy drama. Descending notes float as if suspended in space before the lead singer captures loss and the messy emotion of deep attraction with her clear, clean vocals.

Concentrated luminosity echoes above the even underlayer while the lead singer seizes emotion with unadulterated feeling. The song paints imagery of rain drenched pavement and towering skyscrapers, a city impersonal and full of hollow people.

Portentous heaviness below the echoing vocals emphasizes emptiness and churning need as the melody swells with dreamy gentleness and ominous weight. As the song closes, sensations of late night drifting spill outward.

Recognizing the ghost that's in her room, the storyteller can smell "rain and your perfume." After swearing she wouldn't call the song's subject again, she finds herself "shivering beneath my skin." People describe their shared love as a haunted street and she says it's "a bitter cold in the summer heat."

Calling the song's subject the moon and herself the sun, our narrator points out that she’s "too far gone to ever run." Her fingers trace the other person's name on frozen glass and she watches the "lonely hours slowly pass." Seeing a flicker in the blank grayness, she adds, "I wish the dark would just fade away. "

As the song concludes, the storyteller says, "the city lights are a lonely blue, I'm driving fast just to get to you. I feel the heat in the frozen air, I'll find the love that I know is there."

Synth Single Review: “Turbo Fighter” by Isidor

by Karl Magi

Isidor’s “Turbo Fighter” broadcasts increasing intensity and drama as a ragged pulse moves beneath intimidating percussion before launching into a melody full of thrilling energy and uplifting progress while slicing underpinnings add guidance along with a twanging guitar line.

Brilliance fills the burnished synthesizer as images of combat and challenge fill the music, permeating me with indomitability and warrior spirit. Undulating notes exhale luminosity while the intermingled bass and drums create a groove. Faceted sunlight spills from the high notes to summon feelings of wild abandon and noble struggle, each reinforcing the other.

As a synthesizer crackles with coruscating light, the jagged underlayer snarls and delicate notes intertwine. The main melody draws pictures in my mind, calling up a martial arts battle, full of complexity and skill, driving forward with unbeatable force while mingled radiance and explosive percussion carry the track to an exciting conclusion.

Synth Single Review: “Tell Me” by Lyst, Lazer Club & Shred Krueger

by Karl Magi

Lyst, Lazer Club & Shred Krueger’s “Tell Me” gleams as it grows into life with chords that reflect midnight passion and gentle touches before the funky underpinnings leap along with Samuele Casale’s voice which is imbued with strength and conviction, weaving a yearning, melody full of dedication. 

Computerized sounds cut with blade-like edges and the guitar calls out with a groovy feeling. Notes suffused with pinpoints of urban light shift as the vocals transmit need and anticipation. Compelling emotive depth pours from Samuele Casale’s voice to grab me as the rhythm skips and jeweled chimes flicker while polished tones slip past. 

The chorus has a hypnotic hook while the song moves into a segment in which Shred Krueger's guitar drifts with laid-back sensations and a bell-like synthesizer floats before Shred Krueger’s solo climbs, imbued with fervent desire while the sounds around it create illumination and percussion pushes forward. The song ends with vibrant notes rising into the darkness.

While he waits alone "in the midnight call," the narrator asks, "Tell me, girl, are we through?" He wants to see "the stars in your eyes" and gets lost when he feels her heartbeat, adding "tonight is the night, no more place to hide."

Pointing out  that " love can't break your heart out of your eyes,” our storyteller adds that love also can't "steal the feeling before the night." He asks the song’s subject to tell him if she wants to stay and if she wants him. He goes on to say that "in the midnight rain, I'm still breathing about you."

Feeling pain, the narrator asks the song’s subject what he can do. He wants her to “show me the light in your eyes" because he gets lost when he's embracing her. He adds to that "tonight is the time, no more tears to hide."