Barcelona-based duo SEMIOTICS DEPARTMENT OF HETERONYMS take their intriguing sound to a wider international audience with their third album ‘Rider’ issued on the renowned Canadian independent Artoffact Records.

Commonly known in the abbreviated form as SDH, Andrea P Latorre and Sergi Algiz released their self-titled debut in 2018. The new album showcases further growth from 2023’s ‘Fake Is Real’ with a collection that is bleak yet alluring! Falling under the spell of JG Ballard and described by the duo themselves as “crash body music”, this record of collisions is intended to be heard after the impact with “Bodies exposed to external forces, subjected to repeated impacts, and evaluated after the damage”.

With nonchalant female vocals which then twisted into something more traditionally folky in the haunting middle eight, the mighty ‘Rider’ titled song acted as the perfect trailer, framing the album around movement and escape with its chilling synth pads, spacey arpeggios and hypnotic dance rhythms, all attached to a squelchy synthbass mantra.

It’s the sinister hypnotic rumble of ‘You Talk, I Listen’ that sets the scene with a cacophony of cutting synths while ‘Cruel’ brings in some guitar as it explores the dynamics of control, erosion and emotional obedience with the sort of percussive backbone that would make Alan Wilder proud as Latorre conveys fifty shades of distress as “this is cruel!”

The forceful stomp of ‘You Lost My Keys’ is a driving club tune that shows off the Latorre’s varied range of vocal stylings. Short and sharp while raising both tempo and energy, the excellent ‘Dawn Fawn’ examines the consequences of excess in Latorre’s alluring contralto while on the glorious punchy mechanics of ‘Keep My Hands’ recalls DLINA VOLNY as she announces to her former lover: “I despise you now! What did you expect?”

Photo by Fissura

A storm brews in the vocalled interlude ‘Something Sublime’ before seguing into the treated vocal duet ‘Night Visit’ with Nordic duo LUST FOR YOUTH that despite its solemn mood, is pumped by a nocturnal machine groove that adds a trance-laden sparkle to its conclusion. ‘Defeated’ adapts into something more minimal but is no less effective in its prevailing resignation and Algiz’s wild soloing while the climactic ‘Behind This Dream’ is mad and magnificent with its frantic beats and electronic thrust provides a perfect end.

With their dark but accessible songs possessing a club-friendly gothique that is rich in anxious emotional tension, SDH have realised their promise and made their best album yet in ‘Rider’.

‘Rider’ is released by Artoffact Records, available as a blue vinyl LP, CD and download from https://semioticsdepartmentofheteronyms.bandcamp.com/album/rider

SDH play The Moth Club in London on Saturday 17th October 2026

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
16th April 2026