Synth Single Review: “That Summer Love” by Sun City

by Karl Magi

Sun City’s “That Summer Love” resounds with a free-feeling guitar and a steady rhythmic pulse before Chris Catton’s voice exudes the sensations of a ‘80s love ballad, echoing with burning emotion as guitar strings intertwine. As the chorus flies with excited abandon, the underpinnings throb and Chris Catton’s guitar solo paints a feeling of impassioned nostalgia and a longing for lost love as the enthusiastic vocals fill me with joy.

Vibrant notes cascade from the guitar, bending and leaping with unrestrained dynamism. Chris Catton catches the aching for a return to a relationship that was lost, exploding with all of the affection still within him. Jonas Klintström Larsen's sax tears into the music with pure, blinding radiance and a feeling of unstoppable fervency and undeniable need before Chris Catton carries the song to an end along with the boisterous guitar.

Describing himself as a loner, the storyteller says the song's subject was just like a hurricane. He's "been dreaming for so long that I'd be swept up and taken away" as he adds that it feels like yesterday "hiding out in the open." He never told her about how badly his heart could be broken.

"I was walking on a thin line, trying to keep my feet off the ground" although this song’s subject wouldn't stay around. The narrator didn't think she'd quit on him as he asks "what happened to that summer love?" He keeps dreaming of her and still believes in their summer love. He recalls how everything started and they were "stuck in a moment, pretending it was forever and it would never be over."

With passion, our storyteller says that the song's subject "carved her name in my very soul,” as he describes her like an angel "calling me back home to a place inside her mind. " Catching him up in a feeling, he found his feet off the ground again. However, the chasm between them was growing even though they "couldn't bear to go it alone."

"All the cracks were showing like a point of no return" and the narrator laments the fact that the sun was setting "on the promise we had set in stone." The truth cried out to them, telling them that they were never going home. He wanted her to "hold me till the end, tell me I'm the one” and return him to the summer love they had.

To conclude, our storyteller says, "sail me to shore, pull me up above, I'm living for my summer love."

Synth Single Review: “Levels” by Atmolifter

by Karl Magi

Atmolifter’s “Levels” has a cloudy, delicate beginning as a softly brushing percussive motion moves with crystalline chimes, like frozen raindrops and the foundation guides with an even heartbeat. A melody carried on a softly shaded synthesizer exudes smoothly sailing sensations, like mist across the moon, while the rhythm rocks the music with tenderness and relaxation.

As glistening drops of sound sprinkle the music, shades of indigo billow from the background, capturing me in a web of peaceful serenity. While the underlayer provides motion, the lead synth draws me into a world of weightlessness, floating as feathery fragility mixes with soaring, uplifting strength.

The track is a sonic journey, painting the beauty of a realm full of zephyrs and pillowy softness, carrying the listener to a fresh world. Ticking percussion is joined by spilling tones that reflect phosphorescent glow and the song carries on with gossamer elegance before the music ends.

Synth Single Review: “MIR” by Simon Gabriel

by Karl Magi

Simon Gabriel’s “MIR” paints a blissed out, wandering image of a space station orbiting our planet in the unending vastness of the solar system, drifting in the void of space. Chimes evoke uncountable stars flickering in the infinite darkness as the expansive background introduces a slight tinge of unsettled sound. Cyclical motion defines the track, transporting me to astral realms in a galactic tide.

A rhythmic pulse creates forward motion and revolving tones evoke orbiting in the eternal umbra of outer space. Percussion propels with colossal force while chimes flash like distant cosmic structures. After the rhythm fades, notes with weightless elegance call to mind a space station twirling as a starry plain stretches endlessly.

Mingled loneliness, peace and excitement grasp me while the punching drumbeat emphasizes the twirling motion, like a galaxy spinning through space. As the track closes, a synth transmits calm like an otherworldly choir.

Synth Single Review: “desirable” by Love Spirals Downwards

by Karl Magi

Love Spirals Downwards’ “desirable” brings to mind late night cool and an atmosphere wreathed in smoke and full of desire as Ryan Lum’s guitar delivers relaxation with an easy going motion. The gentle rhythm moves with Anji Lum’s lustrous vocals, capturing the atmosphere of barely contained passion that permeates the words.

Echoing tones float into openness as the guitar creates blue illumination and almost whispered words add a sensual quality.The undercurrents of barely suppressed need grab me as Anji Lum catches the mood, her seductive voice floating out while Ryan Lum’s playing draws images of midnight attraction above the smooth beat. Layers of sound travel like smouldering gazes through a nightclub before the song ends.

It's clear to our storyteller that, "everybody wants you, everyone with eyes to see" as she points out that the song's subject is "just too desirable, even to a fool like me." Every head turns when the other person walks into a room and all conversation ends without a sound." Every boy and girl there falls at the other person's feet as they are "sending out their signals, being indiscreet like me."