Synth Single Review: “Porcelain Thunder” by Maxx Parker

by Karl Magi

Maxx Parker’s “Porcelain Thunder” begins with a limpid sonic pool, touched by trickling tones like gem lit droplets while the subtle beat adds shape while breezy tones flit like a summer wind and a keyboard erupts with enlivening sensations. An evocation of a landscape full of beauty and fantastical scenes flows from panpipes that exhale in a melodic line that calls to mind a faerie realm.

The active keyboard moves with whispering tones and the percussion accelerates, propelling with thrilling energy, as a xylophone with woodsy depth moves with bells that tremble like sunlit crystal while airy notes float, filling me with otherworldly visions. Piano adds positivity while a flute creates an enchanting picture of a hidden place, safe from the depredations of the modern world.

The piano sings as frolicking notes skip like fairy lights and a vocal sound adds to the mystical nature of the music. Arpeggios spin as the dynamic keyboard moves and the pan pipes paint an image of floating weightless in pure water before the track closes.

Synth Single Review: “Tonight” by Frisky Monkey & Kymberly

by Karl Magi

Frisky Monkey & Kymberly’s “Tonight” begins with braided notes exuding faint incandescence before Juan Cezar's distinctive voice carries attraction across the dance floor-filling beat. The rhythm throbs while laser light pours forth from an angular synth before Kymberly adds her soulfully heartfelt vocals and Juan Cezar uses his sonorous tones to give the song emotional depth.

Drums and bass rattle as burning desire fills Kymberly’s honey-sweet tones and Juan Cezar seizes me with his showcase of fiery need. A funky guitar adds a measure of cool while the two singers trade off the performance with smoldering fervency. Chopped up vocals move with crisp underpinnings while undeniable sensuality and desire pours through the music. The singers bounce off each other's vocals, imbuing the song with intoxicating attraction before it ends.

As our storyteller saw the song's subject standing alone, looking good to him, he said "I knew right then that you'd be mine." As they walked up to him and made eye contact, he realized that "from that moment, I was lost." He wonders where the other person came from and how long they'll stay.

Asking the narrator to come dance with them, the song's subject added "let me set you free, come dance with me tonight." They spent tonight in one another's gazes while they ignored other people and forgot about the drama. The narrator concludes: "who would have thought that this could ever happen? Fate is a funny thing, you never know what it'll bring."

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.