Formed in 2014, with a well-received self-released 2017‘s album “Classified” under their belt, Besançon, France duo Vague Scare have announced the sophomore full-length titled “Dissemblance” due out this month, on Vinyl and CD, via Gps Prod./Urgence Disk/Scarsquare (pre-order here).
Fresh from a mini-tour of Northern Italy, the pair has just released the first single/video “Modern Carousel”, infused with their unmistakable 80s influenced dark synth-laden sound that blurs the lines between darkwave, coldwave, synth-pop and post-punk with a distinctive melodic and romantic flair.
The mysterious and enticing “Modern Carousel” layers airy dismal synth chords of flowing crystalline elegance that quiver and swell underpinned by repetitive, peppy drumbeats clouded by deep rumbling ominous bassline as deep resonating baritone vocals evoke feelings of surrender, withdrawal, and relinquishment to a world of lost dreams, helplessness, and glimmers of hope.
A song about the past, emotional turmoil, and hard feelings. One of the hardest things about being left behind is the anger, resentment, and abandonment guiltily felt by the ones left. Warm thoughts of yesterday are besieged with bitter cold servings of reality and bring more questions than answers for one man who begs the rhetorical statement, “Seven days to go, Someone told you so, We could have said goodbye.” A fond recollection of a childhood park is dimmed with stars that never shine, someone you will never know, and voids lost in time as the carousel of life keeps spinning round and round echoing the laughter of broken promises to those left behind.
A cryptic, macabre, black and white video shot in France and Italy in thanks to Nicoletta and Lester for taking us to Palazzo Barozzi in Vignola (Mo). Flickering candlelight yields skewed shadows mimicking lost time set against the backdrop of an old monastery rich with secret passageways, dimly lit parapets, and old leather bound journals. Time-lapse photography, distant lights, and an old pocket watch represent lost time and distance felt. Seemingly old footage of a lone androgenous figure attending an opera staring at time shifts to a man seated beside it going unacknowledged alternating with a large celebration. Images of a violent wave tumbling atop the mourning keeper of time with brutal force combined with day shift to night shadowy, and an enthusiastic toast, like the pocket watch exchanges hands, depicts an end to the suffering with possibilities of a new beginning.
A dark harrowing tale from one left behind in the shadows with dim glimmering lyrics, heartfelt vocals, and heightened sinister synths built into an authentically morose and melancholic atmosphere drenched in disturbed emotional turmoil.
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