SKREEN B BLOG

How could I deny a track by William in the Wild when the project is named after a squirrel? Quite frankly, I’m already rather fond of squirrels (one often visits our backgarden) - and fittingly William in the Wild's latest recording 'time lapse' proves to be every bit as charming as its furry inspiration. The sub-three minute track is a cosmic soundscape of field recordings, shimmering synth textures and warm, enveloping pads. Though relatively short, it gently encourages the listener to slow down, switch off and give the nervous system a well-earned breather. In a refreshingly uncluttered moment of tranquillity, nature meets ambient dreamland in a beautifully understated piece of sonic escapism. I certainly enjoyed the break - nuts to stress, I say!

With their new tune 'Angelenophobe', Los Angeles synth duo, More Ephemerol , channel the stark pulse of classic minimal wave, with the early electronic edge of Human League and Fad Gadget (bonus point!) also clearly in the mix. With dual vocals sung in English and Spanish to reflect LA's cultural roots, the track adds driving bass guitar to sweeping analogue synths and shuffling drum machine beats. Incorporating more aggression than their usual approach, the act say this is "A song for the haters. This is a song about how much we love our home city, Los Angeles - it is a defensive anthem, deflecting all the distaste that our city receives, and it does receive a lot!" Personally, I loved the vintage reference points sitting alongside the controlled chaos of experimentation in the arrangement - and for that reason, I feel 'Angelenophobe' is a great track to throw a couple of fingers at any of those critics.

It’s great to have some more music arriving from Japan, and Heaven In Her Arms deliver a formidable hard-rocking onslaught with ‘The Moon That Falls Only Here’. The guitars are ramped up to maximum, unleashing a harsh, heavy and dramatic wall of sound that hits like a force of nature. Yet beneath the crushing distortion lies a more cinematic and reflective side, with moments of fragile beauty providing welcome contrast to the sheer sonic brutality. Exploring grief, lingering memories and the haunting question “Are you still there?”, this nearly six-minute epic demonstrates the Tokyo outfit’s ability to balance raw aggression with emotional depth. The band's fourth album, ‘The End of Purification’, arrives on 13 November, and if this single is anything to go by, it promises to be quite an experience. One of those track which leaves you slightly breathless.

Amakiya ’s latest release 'Archetype' is one of those recordings that really gets under your skin. The production is relatively minimal, yet its carefully chosen elements combine to create a brooding menace that grabs the attention and draws the listener in. There’s a distinctly cinematic quality to the track, hinting at the angst and creeping anticipation of a horror film, while the vocal adds an unnerving intensity.  Austin-based interdisciplinary artist and producer Amakiya blends music, dance and technology, drawing on Afrofuturism and energy work to transform pain into something healing. Dark, intriguing and a touch unsettling, 'Archetype' leaves a lingering impression. The video is quite stylish, too - where the exotic meets street.

Amusement time - with Halloween creeping ever closer, SP’s 'Spirit World' couldn’t have arrived at a better time. It has all the anarchic charm of Beetlejuice set to song, with frantic guitar, a relentless drumbeat and Steve Albertson’s expressive, theatrically tinged vocals making for a gloriously unhinged ride. His promise to “shepherd your soul into the afterlife” sets the tone nicely and almost seems like fun. Steve LaBate’s guitar work keeps things deliciously edgy before the punk frenzy takes a slightly cosmic 1950s detour - allowing a time to drift and consider your fate. With James Holland on bass and Allen Kronenberger on drums, this lot clearly enjoy a little mayhem. The brilliantly bonkers, hand-drawn animated video is the perfect visual companion. Spooky, spiky and fully spirited!

Odd artwork! Slightly disturbing. For me, that's a good start. Just like the artwork, this one probably isn’t for everyone, but SHEEBABA aren’t exactly here to tick boxes. Their latest release ‘option C’ is a grinding, pounding chunk of post-punk noise, with angular, fuzzy guitars, someone seemingly bashing a piano, and a relentless chant that sounds suspiciously like “I’m the hand that clothes the toy”. Confused? Great! It’s abrasive, confrontational and gloriously front-facing, with the Mainz-based synth-punk/art-wave duo exploring the frustrations of being an object of desire that’s never quite enough. Eliott Eccho and Prof.C clearly favour performance art over polite musical niceties, and this feisty sonic offering certainly makes its presence felt. Not so much easy listening as an industrial-strength assault on the senses. I wonder what options A and B might have been? Here there is no other option but to enjoy the brutality.

Music from my own country this time around.  OB/SED ’s debut single 'Obsessed' comes as bass-heavy electro-pop with an almost glitch-influenced production that’s upbeat and dancefloor-friendly, though I’d place it in an awkward outsider’s disco more than a tan-and-trout-pout club setting.  Formed by Burak Can Öğüt and vocalist Öykü Ertek, the duo blend dark pop sensibilities with emotionally charged songwriting. Öykü whispers the verses intimately into the mic before the track moves from the mellow start and gets down to the real business. Lyrically, it explores attraction tipping into obsession - creating a catchy, quirky and enjoyably honest tune.

Class! That about sums up Twin Temple 's new recording 'Nothing Matters'. The song rolls out like a 1960s standard - it is pop, but performed with a dark, haunting majesty. The production is spot-on, expertly leaving the beguiling vocals to take centre-stage, as the sophisticated instrumentation wraps around with restrained drama. The tune is sumptuous, the melody providing Alexandra James all the peaks and passages to bewitch the listener with her heart-breaking vocal delivery. Twin Temple have built a devoted following with their gloriously subversive mix of retro rock ’n’ roll, occult theatrics and darkly playful flair. Fronted by Alexandra and Zachary James, the duo envelop themes of rebellion, empowerment and unapologetic individuality around vintage sounds, delivering a live show as spellbinding as it is mischievous. Quite clearly, they show the Devil always has the best tunes!

Winter may be peeking over the horizon, but Drama Dolls clearly haven’t put away their beachwear just yet. Their latest romp 'Dancing' arrives with a glorious blast of summertime attitude, where surf-rock swagger meets three women determined to kick up the sand, let their hair down and forget their troubles. Think the Ramones with suntans, a gender-swap and cocktail umbrellas.  Formed in Los Angeles by Doc Egg, TKO and Scrambles, Drama Dolls have been making a gloriously chaotic racket from the punkier end of the party since that fateful January get-together. Here they throw punk, new wave and retro pop into the shaker, with a twist of Blondie-style sway and a big, spacious beat that compels your hips to shimmy. As the band explain: “Everything’s a mess and we all need a dance break.” By the time those infectious “ba-da-ba-da-bas” arrive, resistance really does seem rather pointless. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best ones - and Drama Dolls will always keep you on y...

It has been ages since I last featured a track with throat-singing, so it is a delight to hear Sainkho Namtchylak 's 'My Dear Left - Reimagined'. I’ve always enjoyed listening to music that features unusual sounds and a unique identity, and within seconds this track captured my attention. The Tuvan-born, Vienna-based avant-garde vocalist brings her extraordinary seven-octave range to a track about standing against violence and the understanding that "real strength lies in compassion, not aggression". Re-worked in conjunction with Noam Helfer and Ran Gerson, the duo have built around her voice with deep beats, industrial textures and organic sounds, giving the song a contemporary edge, whilst retaining its mystical roots. Namtchylak’s remarkable journey from the Tuvan/Mongolian border to the international experimental scene makes her a fascinating artist, and this collaboration shows just how powerful the human voice can be.   'My Dear Left - Reimagined' is...

Let's bask in the darkness again! There’s something suitably confessional lurking beneath the surface of ‘Kissing Lions’, the latest offering from Massachusetts darkwave/post-punk outfit Ghost Painted Sky . Swathes of gothic guitar provide the gloom, while Lisa Wood’s despairing vocals hover above an elastic bassline. There's also a great melodic underflow to the recording with long-time collaborator Aurora Grabill contributing violin. The song’s themes of breaking the mundane by chasing fleeting thrills and making bad decisions shroud the atmosphere - although, as the title suggests, those decisions have teeth that sometime bite back. Founded by multi-instrumentalist David Strong in 2014, Ghost Painted Sky became a creative partnership with Wood in 2018, later adding guitarist Michael Boudreau. 'Kissing Lions' is a suitably uncaged taste of the band's forthcoming second album, Failure Blooms. The accompanying video spans the band’s history, weaving vintage 8mm foot...

One of my main bugbears with electronic music is that a lot of acts simply throw a generic vocal sample into the mix in an attempt to make it more interesting - you know the "oh yeah-yeah, dance to the beat" type phrase. Ultimately, the choice of vocal sample is far too uninspired and I would say - lazy! Thankfully, Glitch Garden has not succumbed to this trapping with new release 'Haze', as the electro track includes an introduction to and excerpts from the Gerard Manley Hopkins poem "No worst, There is none" which was written in 1885. Just having that extra attention to detail sitting amongst the melodic flow of synths and gentle beats makes this recording stronger than your average electronic piece. As Glitch Garden states this is "Danish electro made with love". 'Haze' is taken from Glitch Garden's debut album, 'Garden Leave'. Go dig out a copy! Garden Leave by Glitch Garden

'Play Date' immediately put a grin on my face. Hendricks the Hatmaker and Fire Cult , two bands working together, deliver a sparky, energetic slice of pop-punk that feels driven by the sheer joy of making music with friends. The vocal interplay is great fun, with the different voices bouncing off each other before those shouty “Play! Date!” chants kick in and give the track an irresistibly youthful energy. I particularly liked the contrast between the mundane working day in the lyrics - early starts, traffic jams, grey office walls and corporate boredom - and the escape that music provides. It’s a feeling many of us will recognise (I do!): getting through the day while your mind is already elsewhere.  Amusing, spirited and wonderfully playful, this left me wanting to act like the bands - turn off the laptop and forget the work. However, that would mean this review wouldn't have been written! 'Play Date' is available on the Silly Songs Vol.1 (Split EP) - there's...

I am always delighted to feature some music from Japan, usually it can be a little bonkers, but this time with 'mermaid' by  Atria. the recording is delicate and refined. Taken from the forthcoming album "-Sea Surface-", the track is a part of a conceptual tale, with Atria. explaining "it's a positive song about a mermaid who, even when her loved one goes far away, uses her singing voice to forge her own path. Furthermore, the mermaid's singing voice guides the characters who appear in various songs throughout the album. As a result, she appears in the lyrics of other songs as well, serving as the protagonist of a single overarching story across the entire album". 'mermaid' is built around an ever-changing flow of keyboard and piano motifs, backed with strings and soft layers of floaty vocals - the piece really encapsulates the feel of a watery environment. It is a lovely, relaxing piece with both ambient and neo-classical elements.

Formed by members of Be'lakor and Rainshadow to explore darker, heavier territory, Dusk Cult have already carved out a rather gloomy little corner for themselves. Their third album, Folklore Discipline, follows Embrace The Lunar Age and Night Sky Revelations, but this time the gaze shifts from the night sky towards darker historical myths and the cult’s own philosophy.  Their instrumental track 'Noctis' is another timely track for Halloween. Consisting of spooky piano and haunting synths, it works well as either a short intro or a reprise. The band term it "a palate cleanser for a larger project" - which conjures up images of a sonic sorbet before something meatier comes along. The track is well arranged and serves up a reminder of that classic goth sense of drama I always enjoy. Caelum by Dusk Cult

I am not that keen on the artwork for 'un hombre bueno es difícil de encontrar', but I will gloss over that as this latest Chicago Boys track really caught me off-guard. Unlike previous submissions to me, this recording goes way beyond the usual three minute mark - coming in at over seven minutes. Also, the song is rather melancholy and reflective and having translated the few words (sung in Spanish), the theme is really dark, for example: "I saw you, and I dragged you along, and I shot you" alongside "I saw you in my dreams, and a plant came into my room and devoured me". The overall sound is a sort of desert blues rock, but the twist comes at the end with a surprising fairground organ outro. A really intriguing track - quite unexpected and that's a good thing to hear. un hombre bueno es difícil de encontrar by Chicago Boys

Oh, this is a neat segue from the last review, going from a song about blurry vision to Zoomatic 's new release 'Vision'. Coincidentally, the tracks almost follow the same path, with Zoomatic showing more focus by keeping the recording to last under two minutes. 'Vision' is a simple, gentle instrumental which sounds like an electronic device undertaking some sort of abstract calculation, busy one minute, pausing to cross-check the next. It would be great in one of those old 1960s sci-films where the last human is floating through the cosmos.   

Belgian duo MONOLYTH turn 'Blurry Vision' into something that feels less like a conventional song and more like the soundtrack to an ominous procession. Its rhythm clatters along like bones rattling down a railway, while biblical choral melancholy hangs over the track like a requiem with occasional sonic booms. There’s a distinctly cinematic quality here, unsurprising given the duo’s filmmaking background, and although the trip-hop and alternative-rock influences are lurking in the shadows, this feels almost entirely instrumental in spirit. It’s dark, brooding and beautifully unsettling - with terrific artwork to match.

It is Halloween month and there's no better way to start the month than with 'Golden Lore', the new release from New York's JOHN X BELMONTE . Sparse electronics sit at the graveside of some wonderfully gloomy vocals, the single is a perfect gothic recording, spooky and atmospheric. Don't fear, this is not one of those style over substance tracks; the song maybe be subdued, but there's a decent tune.  The music video should also delight the darkwave fans out there. Release the bats!

'Valeu' by  Macnolia is an intriguing instrumental track, there are fairly subtle elements of Krautrock, but that's all scrambled within an almost spooky framework. The recording is not exactly horror film soundtrack, but more like a seance of synths - all quite downbeat and mysterious. The gliding experimental feel looms in the background but the main synth line and percussive footsteps really work to retain your attention. I just really like this for being something a little different. There's not a lot of information with this submission, but it apparently originates from Spain. 

Swedish punk pioneers Vacum emerged in 1979 from the northern industrial city of Sundsvall. Racking up over 150 gigs and three albums before splitting in 1985, their sound evolved from wiry punk into experimental new wave and postpunk electronics. Reformed in 2018, they now return with their first entirely new material since 1985, with fifth album Dum Dum Tiden due in October 2026. 'Minnet av dig' arrives as an introduction to that album and there’s something distinctly claustrophobic about it. The song is an intense, sometimes wayward five-minute-plus journey through sorrow and longing. The slow, desolate verses give way to heavy choruses, while the imagery of wind, sea, mountains and autumn darkness creates an increasingly enclosed atmosphere. Marina Ammouri’s Ukrainian recitation and powerful backing vocals add another layer of drama to the mix. The repeated chorus refrain of "Minnet av dig" (the memory of you) feels almost obsessive, circling those beautiful memo...

Eventually Flowers are Tom (Tender Glue) and Janise (Lavender Bones), a duo who like to weave natural frequencies and botanical symbolism into their recordings. Their latest release 'Chasing Time' was originally written ten years ago and it has taken quite a while for the song to find its definitive identity. The band say "The song was inspired by the feeling that time is fleeting, and that we should make the most of the time we have. That idea feels even more meaningful now, having watched this song change and grow over an entire decade". In some ways, the irony is that a song about living in the moment has taken so long to come to fruition, but the good news is that it was well worth the wait. 'Chasing Time' is a jangly beauty of an indie track with lovely vocals and bright guitars - the growth may have been slow, but it has blossomed into something delightful.

Here's a lights off, shades on, sort of moment - there’s something wonderfully shadowy about Fernando’s Eyes ’ rumbling 'Room On Fire', a moody piece of post-punk with gothic undertones that keeps things understated and uncompromisingly minimal. The programmed drums work neatly against live toms, giving the track a satisfyingly physical pulse, while the sparse lyrics leave little room for ambiguity - this is a song about leaving and not looking back.  Best known as the vocalist and co-founder of Stockholm’s Principe Valiente, Fernando Honorato handles production himself, with Hans Olsson co-producing and mixing. And then there’s Lina Langendorf’s sax, cutting through the gloom like a shimmering blade of light. No lengthy fade, no fuss, just forward motion - much like Honorato as he strides along a new creative path. Cool video, too!

Every so often there can be some light-hearted fun within the gothic genre (anyone remember 'Watch That Grandad Go' by bauhaus?) and that's the case here. Nashville-based alternative rock duo Sleep Nation , founded by vocalist, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Bran Merritt, have been evolving their high-energy blend of rock guitars and modern production for well over a decade now. Their latest release is a fresh take on Hall & Oates classic 'Maneater' - cloaking the vocals with gloomy synths and melancholy strings. The result is an unexpected treat, a stripped down to the bones re-invention with a dark sense of humour, especially good when experienced with the amusing vintage horror-styled music video.

Charm School are releasing a flurry of great tracks and hot on the heels of a couple of stand-out mixes of 'Simulacra', comes an absolute electronic thumper called 'Desolation'. Appearing as part of the same EP, the track was recorded as a one-off in collaboration with EBM super-producer Matia Simovich (of InHalt fame). For lovers of darkwave and old school electro, the song strikes home from the very start - the opening line "I know just what you want" could not be more correct. This is exactly what we want, just like that classic Depeche Mode knack of engineering bright pop hooks within a tormented context - 'Desolation' is a fantastic tune. Desolation by Charm School