In a weekend lacking in noteworthy tracks from newcomers, if not some accompanied by related videos, we rely on an old acquaintance who, despite his elusiveness, hardly leaves us disappointed.
Experienced Belgian musician and composer Jan Vinoelst, after nourishing his musical background during the mid-80s post-punk-new wave era, developed a deep fondness for vintage synthesizers and machines, carving his own understated path over the new millennium through various monikers as Cape Sidereal, Messier 39, a duo with Ludwika Jakubowska, before starting around 2018 his latest cold analogue synth endeavour CryptoChroma, often featuring different vocalists, culminating in the brilliant 2020 debut album “Numb”.
This time are the mesmerising vocalizations by French ‘chanteuse’, Leïla Venus, to grace the new song “Crépuscule”, conveying, in tune with spacey tinged synths, arcane and nostalgic vibes to the immersive, at times edgy, evocative ‘cryptowave’ atmospheres, on the fringe between melancholy and anxiety, to draw the listener into the dark depth of moody and emotive demeanours.
Contemplative lyrics dwell in the mysterious veil of twilight to fall ambivalent into the shifting moods of desire.
Mechanical rattling snares along with buzzing warbling basslines and pulsing icy synth drones drive a ceaselessly bouncy hypnotic pace, slowly strewn with eerie spacious glowing drifts, whilst haunted emotional vocals cry angst, obsession, and pain through an obscure intoxicating force of dusky tides.
Keep up with Cryptochroma:
