David Cronenberg’s ‘Dead Ringers’
Searching for a common thread to tie all these contributions together, it would seem that art, in this case, music, videos, and lyrics, gives us the ability to explore, in search of healing and growth, the dark side of the human condition known most prolifically as Carl Jung‘s shadow self. An often hidden darkness that lies within each of us as a response to trauma, social engineering, and biology. It is important to recognize the deep introspection, boundless talent, and courageous expression that goes into this good work. Thank you, not just to the people on this list, but to everyone who dedicates their energy to this shared artistic library of thought, sound, and vision.
THE CRUSH – “444 Hz”
Hong Kong-based Shoegaze/Post Punk unit The Crush’s darkly surreal video by Edison Juai, combines a really creative set with a magnificent use of lights, shadows and proportions to sync with the immersive dark lullaby vibe of “444 Hz”, a song named after the angel frequency that can be used with meditation to balance the body, mind, and soul.
- BLOOD RELATIONS – “As This Darkness Takes Hold”
Blood Relations, the Gothic Post Punk project of multi-instrumentalist, film composer and experimental visual artist E.K. Wimmer, takes us to the supernatural desert of his native Albuquerque, New Mexico where a collaborative DIY video with cinematographer Jason Smith and co-writer Cordelia Wimmer creates a transformative blood ritual, “As This Darkness Takes Hold.”
LIVING TEMPLES – “Lamb Among Wolves”
Berlin-based 80s Post Punk Swede Kalle Fagerberg (Bootblacks), under his Living Temples moniker, ponders the contrived modern anti-spiritualism of ‘survival of the fittest’ in a symbolic video directed by Adam Munnings aptly titled “Lamb Among Wolves.”
ZOLTAN FREITAG – “Slowdown”
From the urban jungle to a timeless introspection, Turin, Italy’s cinematic Electro Wave Synth soloist Zoltan Freitag delivers dark baritone poetry against a transformative backdrop of insightful archetypes and thought-provoking lights and shadows created by Simona Minutolo’s black and white vision of “Slowdown.”
URAL MOUNTAINS – “Gust”
Buenos Aires, Argentina -based solo Dream Pop/Shoegaze project of French man Cyril Degilles, Ural Mountains, sets the beautifully melancholic yet uplifting song “Gust”, featuring the soul-stirring vocals of Sharko, against a touching anthropomorphic visual, lifted from a documentary about the state of Virginia by Sparklehorse.
POLARLICHT – “Lost Generation”
Polarlicht, the Lyon, France-based Dark Wave duo of Alastrelle and Marx, showcase the stylish powerhouse female vocalist in a magical role playing fantasy directed by Fabian Duret for the anthemic dance number “Lost Generation.”
SCREENSAVER – “Permanence”
From down under Australia, James Beck, guitarist of the Melbourne-based Post Punk outfit Screensaver, made a comedic masked caper visual for “Permanence”, a noisy number intended to aid in the release of pent up frustration.
- GNAC – “The Whispering of Shadows”
If you’re looking to heal your troubled mind and like symbolism, illustrations, and stop gap animation, with an innocent child like viewpoint, then check out the imaginative video by Turin, Italy’s Isobel Blank for the Stirling, UK-based multi-instrumentalist and composer Mark Tranmer AKA GNAC’s instrumental song, “The Whispering of Shadows.”
- INCIRRINA – “Presence”
Incirrina, Irini Tini and George Katsanos, combines their distinctive cinematic Dark Wave with the metaphysical poetry of Konstantinos Londos and the otherworldly imagination and, on location in Athens, Greece direction of Nikos Chantzis to deliver a modern-day ghost story in the video for “Presence.”
SOFT SKIES – “Your Small Army”
Philadelphia-based identical twin brothers and veteran musicians Ryan and Martin Rex, under the Soft Skies moniker, create a stunning and transformative audio-visual experience by combining the noise strewn, call and respond melody driven Dream Pop earworm “Your Small Army” with the intuitive magic of moving image artist Sapphire Goss. The result is a wonderfully addictive and bittersweet light-bending vision swept in sunshine and nostalgia.
PAST SELF – “무당 / Mudang”
From the warmth of sunshine to a cold and shapeshifting shamanic darkness, Past Self, the Las Vegas-based Korean American K-Goth trio of Sung, Spekton, and aether, portray the “무당 / Mudang” a blind prophet and healer who has special abilities to help others, but not himself. The Official Music Video by Shiloh Foster of Evelyn Scythe uses an imaginative crafting of lights, shadows and overlays to showcase the trio who wear their signature sheer red blindfolds while carrying silver warrior swords under the symbolism of a red moon eclipse.
LAST LEAF DOWN – “Silence”
Where does it all end in 2024? Maybe standing before an uncertain horizon of stirringly quiet twilight where Switzerland’s five piece Shoegaze/Post Rock outfit Last Leaf Down returns, after a seven-year hiatus, to explore the fear of falling back into old ways with the song “Silence.” Intimate lyrics by Benjamin Schenk combine with dreamy agonized vocals, vibrant wistful guitars, and maddening emotional sways as a person humbles themself to a greater power in order to find beauty, spirituality, and hope.
