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Delightful Dark Female Vocals: Eva X, Night Club, Lorelei Dreaming, and Metamorph

3 Jul

Here are several groups that have been on heavy rotation on my Freegal playlists recently in the goth/synthpop genres with distinctive female vocalists. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Eva X
Canadian Synthpop singer/band, Eva X, is a favorite of my husband’s and we’ve seen her several times live where she always puts on very high energy show. Danceable music with memorable hooks you can stream the songs off the I Dream of Reality album and her latest single Dopamine Blind. My favorite off I Dream of Reality is Whipping Girl, a song that inspires the listener to release themselves from toxic people whose scapegoating they should leave behind.

Lorelei Dreaming
Mid-West based, Lorelei Dreaming’s theatrical, multi-media live performances are definitely worth seeking out, which was how I first experienced their music, but their beautiful electronic music is still enjoyable listened to on its own as well so I recommend streaming their sublime synthpop songs from the Future Fables album. Singer, Laura Bienz, had also previously collaborated with St. Griselda and Angelspit.

Night Club
LA, electronic Pop duo, Night Club, reminds me a bit of Garbage, in that most of their songs are bangers. Emily Kavanaugh provides the vocals. The band was featured on the soundtrack for animated series Moonbeam City, for which Night Club founder, Mark Brooks, was also the director for (he also was the director for Metalocalypse). Albums available on Freegal include Requiem for Romance, Scary World, and Masochist. My favorite single is Scary World, which like many of their songs is sure to get stuck in your head and having you humming along. Make sure to check out their interesting take on Siouxsie and the Banshees club favorite, Cities in Dust.

Metamorph
Metamorph is the project of Margot Day who was active in the early days of the NYC Goth scene back in the 80’s when she was in the band The Plague which included Nick Ferrell from Spahn Ranch and Damian from the Misfits. She also was bandmates of Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys in her first band Slow Walk 13. She and her current band mates Kurtis Knight and Thalina perform witchy music that hints at goth’s past, but brings in the dark synth of the present on Hex. Margot also plays flute on some tracks an interesting addition, which I especially enjoyed when I recently saw them perform live this past spring at Dark Force Fest here in NJ.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

Celebrate World Goth Day with Music from Sonsombre, SYZYGYX, Astari Nite, and Aesthetic Perfection!

19 May

One of the things that helped me get through the pandemic was checking out Goth DJ streams on Twitch. I loved seeing how people from all over the world would get together for 2 day marathons and it was a great opportunity to see what others around the world were enjoying. I’m mourning the recent loss of local venues like the Pyramid Club, where I got to see great performances over the years from bands like Black Tape for a Blue Girl and Ayria, but I’m hopeful that there will be a resurgence for the scene in the upcoming years.

World Goth Day is May 22. It was started back in 2009 as a way to celebrate the Gothic subculture’s music, clothing, and art. Though of course I’m going to be celebrating listening to classics like music from Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sisters of Mercy, and Bauhaus, I thought for this post it would be good also to look at the current state of Goth in our nation with some popular US bands currently creating music with a gothic aesthetic.

Sonsombre
Northern Virginia based Sonsombre was founded by Brandon Pybus, who had previously been involved mostly in the metal scene. The band puts a modern take on the classic goth rock sound of bands like The Wake and Rosetta Stone. You can stream songs from their album One Thousand Graves from Freegal. If you are a Sisters of Mercy fan then this is a band to hear.

S Y Z Y G Y X
Though tricky to say and trickier to spell SYZYGYX is a Washington DC dark wave duo of Luna Blanc and Josh Clark that you should definitely check out. Their name derives from Syzygy a term for the alignment of celestial objects with an added X for the unknown. They describe their music as “bleak post apocalyptic soundscapes fused with retro punk biting synth lines and minor scale hooks.” Stream songs from their EP Hex’n Equinox from Freegal.

Astari Nite
The Miami based band Astari Nite brings a mix of goth and post-punk to delight your nights; they are especially well known for their excellent live shows. Of course if you don’t want to wait to catch them on tour, you can stream music from their album Midnight Conversations from Freegal. One of my favorites is their cover of Voices Carry.

Aesthetic Perfection
One of my current favorites, Aesthetic Perfection is the dark synthwave project of Daniel Graves. You can stream albums including Blood Spills Not Far From The Wound, All Beauty Destroyed, and Til’ Death from Hoopla. My favorite song is the popular single, Antibody. I was lucky enough to get to catch a live performance a few years ago and it was great high energy show.

What is your favorite music to stream? Share it in our comments!

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Head of Information and Digital Services