Remarkable Women of Dark Wave/Post Punk/Experimental Videos 2022
While perusing WL//WH’s vast array of Dark Wave/Post Punk/Dark Electronic video publications for 2022, it soon struck me that the majority of projects contained, either in the lead role or in a collaborative capacity, women. Due to our modern, gender-shifting time-space continuum, I immediately traveled back to my early adult life when female power stood proud, tall, and strong. Being overwhelmed by this recent, missing part of my life, and with an overflow of relevant material to choose from, I decided to do a nostalgic throwback to the Dark Wave/Post Punk/Gothic archetype of womanhood.
Siouxie Sioux, Anja Huwe (Xmal Deutschland), Deborah Harry (Blondie), Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins), Grace Jones, Cosey Fanni Tutti (Throbbing Gristle, Chris and Cosey), Gillian Gilbert (New Order), and Annie Lennox (the Eurythmics), among many other, all paved the way for the fantastic, beautiful, and talented female artists of today. Let us take a look at this year’s most outstanding videos for each month.
DUCTAPE – “Never”
Çağla Güleray and her husband Furkan Güleray AKA Ductape are a Turkish Post Punk/Dark Wave duo from Istanbul who star in the wintry DIY video by Baran Tonyali and Orbay Koç for the heady track “Never” off their 8-track Sophomore LP “Ruh” via Swiss Dark Nights.
MADMOIZEL – “Send Me the Light”
Madmoizel is a multifaceted classically trained artist from France whose beautifully evocative vocal range merges with modern and immersive synthetics to build anthemic dance-inducing auras in “Send Me The Light” accompanied by an ominous shapeshifting video performance, off the 10-track album “Blue”, via Belfast-based independent label TONN Recordings.
RETROVISOR – “Personas Invisibles”
Retrovisor is the Minimal Dark Wave Bolivian duo of Paola Vargas and Huascar Rodríguez who tap into their origin as Japanese Butoh dancers to infuse an intoxicating video by Vladimir Alba, Paola Terán, Mauricio Salazar, and Alejandra Canelas with nocturnal underground dancing flair.
DELTΔ KOMPLEX – “Darkside”
Darmstadt, Germany hosts Synth Wave/Dark Wave trio DELTΔ KOMPLEX who channel a spot-on Siouxie vocal in the shadow-self themed video/song “Darkness” off the 8-track debut album “Veils” via Untershall Records.
SYNEBA “Metropolis”
Syneba is the moniker of Esther Alarcon, a Dark Electronic Artist and producer from Barcelona, Spain, who builds lush cinematic synth-laden instrumentals for her song “Metropolis,” off the debut 4-track EP “Species and Spaces.” A hauntingly surreal tribute video by Govii Cardinni for Fritz Lang’s 1927 cult-classic of the same name syncs seamlessly with the modern dystopic nuances of Syneba’s soundtrack.
ALIX VAN RIPATO – “Sun”
Brussels-based, France-born Dark Electronic musician, radio host, and DJ, Alix Van Ripato, blends chilly forlorn dancing atmospherics with bewitching incantations and her magic ancestral Celtic lore into the DIY song/video “Sun” off her debut mini-album “Red Spells” via Red Maze Records.
INCIRRINA – “Careworn Face”
Incirrina is the Greek Electronic Synth Wave duo of Irini Tiniakou and George Katsanos whose time warping video follows four girlfriends (Alexia, Irini Koutroumanou, Magda, and Sonia Perlegka0 through an urban maze of supernatural mystery in the companion piece for “Careworn Face” off the Sophomore LP “Lip Led Scream.”
ECHOBERYL – “Silent Monster (The Other Side of the Mirror)”
Paris-based Dark Electronic duo Adriano Iacoangeli and Cecilia Dassonneville AKA ECHOBERYL always stir dark psychological drama into their DIY music and videos. “The Silent Monster”(The Other Side of the Mirror) injects cold and intoxicating dancing moods into a ghostly fairy tale inspired by Jean Cocteau’s 1946 movie “La Belle et la Bête” where Cecilia finds herself alone in a disenchanted wood, vexed by the reflection in the mirror.
ESCARLATINA OBSESSIVA – “Son of Sam”
Escarlatina Obsessiva is the imaginative Goth Post Punk duo of Karolina Escarlatina and Zaf EO from São Thomé das Letras in South-Eastern Brazil, whose selected video inspires from the infamous New York City serial Killer known as the “Son of Sam.” Karolina’s bewitching vocal layerings fuse with a dark and groovy jazzy cafe vibe to conjure the dangerous, gritty auras from the 1976 NYC crime scene. The song is off the much anticipated album “Goths from Hell” due out on January 6, 2023, via Deepland Records.
EVERYTHING SHOOK – “Three Crows”
Everything Shook is the Dark Electronic all-girl trio from Ireland made up of Robyn Bromfield, Jessica Kennedy, and Aine Stapleton who give us a tease of their anticipated 2023 Sophomore album with a DIY video by Robyn herself for the dark mercurial fantasy song “Three Crows.”
SEXSOMNIA – “Morphine”
Montreal, Quebec-based Dark Electro trio Philip Faith, Pat Gaudette, and Michael Rien AKA Sexsomnia dropped two videos this year featuring Zoe Page on vocals. “Morphine” injects paranoia and dread into a rousing underground fantasy of dark and mysterious moods.
TUELIPE – “Chien et Loup”
Tuelipe is the DIY solo project of Pascale Bessem (Kilkil) who joins forces with fellow Capetown, South African Director, Illustrator, and Animator Maca Rosee (The Reunion Island) to bring us “Chien et Loup / Dog and Wolf”, a wonderfully creative song and video inspired by the femininity/nature theme of “Little Red Riding Hood” and “The Skeleton Woman.”
Jeanne d’Arc
