Author: electricityclub (Page 15 of 439)

“I don’t like country & western, I don’t like rock music… I don’t like rockabilly! I don’t like much really do I? But what I do like, I love passionately!!”: CHRIS LOWE

“Good taste is exclusive”: NICK RHODES

MARI KATTMAN Interview

21 November 2025 /

Blessed with one of the best voices in dark electronic pop, Mari Kattman has been writing, recording, producing and performing music since 2012.

Collaborating with SURVEILLANCE, IVARDENSPHERE, BLACKCARBURNING, PSY’AVIAH, CASSETTER and SOLITARY EXPERIMENTS, her roles as a guest vocalist have occasionally overshadowed her work as a solo artist. But things changed in 2018 with HELIX, her musical partnership with her husband Tom Shear of ASSEMBLAGE 23.

Applying the methods learnt from HELIX, she began taking control of her own destiny and self-produced her third album ‘Year Of The Katt’. Moving away from the trip-hop and trap that characterised her first two long players ‘Hover’ and ‘Stay’, the end result is her best solo effort yet with a fine collection of catchy electronic songs with crossover potential for the dancefloor and pumping industrial pop.

In the ‘Year Of The Katt’, Mari Kattman has become the alluring gothic club queen offering strong messages of female empowerment. While on her recent UK tour with ASSEMBLAGE 23, Mari Kattman chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK in London to celebrate ‘The Year Of The Katt’…

You declared it the ‘Year Of The Katt’, so how has it been for you?

I DID! It’s been AWESOME! Last year I knew it would be coming out this year and it was a Herculian effort to write this album. It took me about a year and a half of blood, sweat and tears, a lot of learning curves, a lot of upping my abilities as a producer and as a composer… I thought this is it, I finally broke through and I did something all on my own, it’s kind of something I’d always dreamed that I could do, so I HAD to call it my year! *laughs*

You opted to self-produce the album, how was the realisation process for you?

You have to be a person of many minds if you’re going to be doing everything by yourself, because you have to think of everything. From the creative inventive stage of mind and then into more of a technical hat where you are thinking how things sound in a stereo field and in dynamics, you have to think how am I going to use post-production techniques to make some of these pieces shine, which parts are going to be more to the back of the song etc. There’s a lot that goes into that… when you’re doing it alone, you kind of talk to yourself because it’s so thought intensive! *laughs*

It all wrapped up very nicely where some of those places I had never been before, compiling a 10 song situation, making sure that the production is consistent and everything flows from track to track, I started almost in the process to forget titles and things, there were so many things at once, it was an experience! *laughs*

Was HELIX an important bridge into self-production and how you approached ‘Year Of The Katt’?

I think so… my bridge into self-production was just being around Tom to be honest. During the pandemic in 2020, Tom was working on some other stuff and I was kind of just waiting maybe for him to give me something or just working on collaborations with others. So I was like “I’ve got a lot of free time on my hands so I’m going to start learning a DAW and production”; I watched Tom do it and he was making these things happen so I thought if Tom can do it, I could probably do it too. It was always something I was really afraid to step into. But then, just knowing Tom, seeing how the sausage was made, I realised it didn’t look all that complex or what I thought…

Do you wish you had self-produced your music earlier?

Oh 100%, I tell people this all the time. It’s really not as hard as you think and it’s really rewarding to have your own creative message coming through that’s just you. I feel like when you collaborate with others on music, you’re getting a bit of energy from everybody and it’s nothing like listening to an album that came from one person, that’s YOU in music form and that’s fascinating.

There was less of the trip-hop and trap this time around than your previous albums and more uptempo material that could be played in an alternative dance club? What prompted the change in style for you?

I love trip-hop and was working with other people at that time so it was heavily influenced by those musicians as well. But I do live in that world of trip-hop and listening to those underground bands; I like BOARDS OF CANADA, stuff like that but I also heard this Bass movement that came forward because if you listen to a lot of those sounds on my album, you will hear there is still that, not necessarily trap element, but I try to stay midtempo because I can play with hi-hats, I can change the percussion to make it interesting, that part was really important to me. I love that creativity in the groove, like when you have a bass groove and can it up or make your hi-hats fun or do a drum beat that’s not necessarily like 4/4.

So when I made this album, I was really interested in first of all, making it pretty minimal so that I wasn’t overwhelmed as a new producer and two, those strong basslines that grab you right from the beginning. It’s so amazing when someone can pull off a really catchy bassline and it’s like the best thing you’ve ever heard, you could listen to it for minutes on end and you won’t be sick of it! I wanted to do that and this is my interpretation of that vision.

Have you ever been a ‘Typical Girl’?

Hahaha! ‘Typical Girl’ is really about that sort of put down people use on women like “oh she’s just being a typical girl, she’s just got her period” etc… a lot of times, there is branding you get as a women where you’re not seen as an individual, but you’re given this idea that “oh she’s a crazy bitch” or whatever and I frickin’ hate that! People apply those gender stereotypes to women and it kills me. So I guess throughout the years of my life, hearing like there’s a break up and it’s “typical girl” and there’s no backstory to it! I wanted a song for that feeling and most women can relate to just being tossed away like a throw off stereotype!

‘Sharp Shooter’ works on several levels but what is your message?

It’s actually very deep, the song is about how we are living life as an experience as a soul, we reincarnate into these bodies. We experience things that are never mistakes, everything we experience in this lifetime is pointed to help is grow into better people. Even if it’s something very difficult for us, I do believe that our souls are chosen to go through types of situations in order to evolve and become our best selves and to figure out who we are as people. I feel that the message of life is to figure out who you are as an individual and to live that individual as loud as you can!

‘Sharp Shooter’ basically means that you are never going to miss what isn’t for you, because it’s always going to hit on target every time…

…but continuing the gun theme, ‘Little Bullet Girl’ has this eerie Eastern feel, what is the title referring to?

I wrote that one for my daughter, I see her growing up in this world that’s very difficult… kids are the ones set to carry this world forward and the message to my daughter is they prefer when they can control you. So I wanted her to know to maintain her independence and not lose herself in the general narrative of the world, to maintain that simple truth of herself. That also stretches to adults as well, so I feel a lot of people might be able to resonant with that, especially the chorus.

‘Pain’ is quite punchy yet thankful, was writing and recording that a cathartic experience?

Definitely! I feel like pain can’t hurt us if we understand that pain has purpose. Pain drives us away from the things that aren’t for us, whether or not it hurts us at the time, there’s often other pathways that open up outside of these painful experiences that leads us to the places that our souls are meant to be, to be with people who we are meant to be with.

A lot of times, we see pain and we say “Ow! This really hurts” but it’s a gift, it’s saying “this is not your truth, this is not who you are”, this pain is reflecting back to you what you aren’t! And once you’ve turned your focus from what you aren’t, you can find the reflection that matches who you are. A lot of people see the painful things that happen to them as negative and I just want there to be a narrative change to how we view painful experiences in our life and use them to reveal more of who we are as people.

Do you have a favourite track on ‘Year Of The Katt’?

My favourite track is ‘Take Myself Back’ and the reason for that is because the process of becoming the artist I am today involved a lot of me taking down a lot of the barriers and conflicting feelings I had about myself and what I could accomplish. Sometimes as we grow in life, people tell us things that you’re either this way or that, and you question it but realise “I guess this is who I am”… as we grow into middle age, we realise things are no longer serving us. We have to figure out who we are and take that identity back to represent ourselves in the best way possible. This album is really in its truth form about taking myself back, representative of me and that I know who I am.

Are you finding with these empowering messages from your songs on ‘Year Of The Katt’ that your female following is increasing?

I do and that makes me so excited, I love seeing women come together and a lot of my early influences in music were the RIOT GRRRL movement like BIKINI KILL, PJ Harvey, Tori Amos, a lot of strong female artists from that generation. When I used to see those bands come out on stage, it wasn’t about how Instagram sexy you looked, it was raw skill, raw talent, raw voice… I feel women are seeing the true genuine representation that I try to come through with. I really just want to reach people, it has nothing to do with image or ego to me, this is wanting to share insights that might help other people or give them a hand. With women, there are stages of our life which almost repel each other, like we don’t support each other.

What I’m finding is most of my fans at the front of my shows are female and I want to show them not only am I a female musician that’s doing it alone, I’m also a mom and I’m also not a super young person. I want to break all those stereotypes that keep women from reaching further. I want them to see that I can do that and maybe, if they wanted to do that, they could too!

Has your live experience changed for you at all with this clubbier ‘Year Of The Katt’ material?

I think so… I always say this but I write for myself but I also write for my audience. When I was doing some EPs a few years back, I was really paying attention to metrics, I wanted to see what people were responding to. I also wanted to see what DJs were enjoying and I wanted to make something that the audience can not only relate with but also have fun with. I feel like this is really about the fans… it’s a little bit about me, but it’s really about giving people a good time and maybe a good message they can run with.

Having the more uptempo stuff is definitely like multi-purpose music because you can like DJ it or sit at home listening to it, so when you do the higher BPM, you have more multi-use! *laughs*

You did a cover of SOFT CELL’s ‘Monoculture’ with PSY’AVIAH back in 2022, are there any other songs you would like to try and reinterpret?

We played with artist called Vain at Sheffield Corporation and I kept going “Oh Mr Vain! I know what I want…” *laughs*

I love 90s electronic dance pop, Crystal Waters, Martha Wash, that kind of thing… I get a lot of feelings about that because it was my true childhood, songs that I listened to, those big beautiful female voices and doing a cover from that period would be cool.

I did ‘Breña’ for the ‘Sacred Geometry’ tribute album to A PERFECT CIRCLE, the TOOL offshoot… that was considered strange when I did it because it’s not electronic but there’s something so beautiful about that song, I love lots of different types of music.

For those who might be new to Mari Kattman, what 5 entry point tracks might you recommend they check out to get a picture of why they should investigate further?

I love ‘Swallow’, I think that’s a really great track and I love the message behind it, I really related with a lot of fans who got it right away. As I’m writing my next album now, I realise people are paying attention to what I’m saying because you don’t always really know if people get it.

I think ‘Take Myself Back’ is so important too.

I will add from HELIX and say ‘Unimaginable Place’, I just love that gorgeous chorus, it’s just so beautiful and blooms.

I love ‘Lie To Herself’, that’s another HELIX track and I felt that one came together so beautifully, I’m really proud of it.

I’ll also say ‘Anemia’, it’s a two-fold fun goth-like message… I’m an iron-deficient person and I was dealing with anemia for a little while so the misery of that condition inspired this song I wrote at the last minute for ‘Year Of The Katt’, the body of it came together in maybe a couple hours… I had another song to go on the album but this replaced it and became a single.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Mari Kattman

Special thanks to Gary Levermore at Red Sand PR

‘Year Of The Katt’ is released by via Metropolis Records, available from https://marikattman.bandcamp.com/album/year-of-the-katt

https://www.facebook.com/MariKattman/

https://www.instagram.com/themarikattman/

https://www.threads.com/@themarikattman

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
21st November 2025

THOMPSON TWINS’ TOM BAILEY Interview

17 November 2025 /

Photo by Nick Caro

Continuing to maintain the musical legacy of THOMPSON TWINS, the band’s lead vocalist and instrumentalist Tom Bailey tours the UK in September 2026 in support of a new “best of” album and boxed set ‘Industry & Seduction’.

Known for their catchy percussive synth-driven pop combined with a cartoonish visual style, together with Alannah Currie and Joe Leeway, THOMPSON TWINS were popular both sides of the Atlantic between 1982 to 1985 with songs such as ‘In The Name of Love’, ‘Love On Your Side’, ‘We Are Detective’, ‘Watching’, ‘Hold Me Now’, ‘Doctor! Doctor!’, ‘You Take Me Up’, ‘Sister Of Mercy, ‘Lay Your Hands on Me’, ‘Don’t Mess With Doctor Dream’ and ‘King For A Day’; their 1983 breakthrough long player ‘Quick Step & Side Kick’ reached No2 in UK album charts while its follow-up ‘Into The Gap’ went one better and got to No1.

Through his connections with THOMPSONS TWINS’ late producer Alex Sadkin, Tom Bailey also played keyboards on tracks by Grace Jones, Paul Haig and notably FOREIGNER on ‘I Want to Know What Love Is’. Meanwhile Debbie Harry’s 1989 hit ‘I Want That Man’ was co-written and co-produced by him. Another co-production came with Jimmy Somerville’s cover of Cole Porter’s ‘From This Moment On’ for the ‘Red Hot & Blue’ AIDS benefit album to which THOMPSON TWINS also contributed with ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’

Now down to a duo of Bailey and Currie, THOMPSON TWINS would mutate into the more experimental BABBLE in 1992, releasing two albums before Bailey went solo under the moniker of INTERNATIONAL OBSERVER to produce a series of dub electronica records. But in 2014, Bailey returned to pop and live performance with a set comprising of THOMPSON TWINS songs at Reading’s Sub89 ahead of an appearance at the Rewind Festival.

2018 saw the release of his debut solo album ‘Science Fiction’. With a female backing band comprising of Charlotte Raven (keyboards, cello + vocals), Paulina Szczepaniak (drums + vocals) and Alice Offley (bass, keyboards + vocals), he has been touring the world almost non-stop ever since…

Tom Bailey spoke to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about those heady days with THOMPSON TWINS, performing at Live Aid with Madonna as their backing singer, the upcoming best of set and the 2026 tour with BLANCMANGE…

You have a new “best of” compilation ‘Industry & Seduction’ out and a greatest hits tour next year, does it feel like validation having been releasing music for 45 years?

All these things fly by in a strange kind of way… the trigger for next year’s tour is this album is being released and unusually, the record company got us involved in choosing tracks for the second CD in the 3CD collection. The first one is the obvious hits, the last one is a live album, but they said “let’s go into the archives and make a kind of history of the lesser known THOMPSON TWINS recordings” and so we did that… it was quite exciting and it made us realise that we’d done a lot of interesting work that is less celebrated.

So that also caused me to think, now is the time to go out to perform longer sets to play some of these deeper cuts as well.

So is selecting a greatest hits live set like compiling a best of album?

When you’ve got more time, you immediately think “what else can we play?” because everyone wants the hits of course, but you start thinking we can do this and that… as a band, we have a large repertoire of songs that we’ve arranged and rehearsed but it’s nice to add a couple of new things for ourselves and our audience that they haven’t perhaps heard recently.

Photo by Roasline Shahnavaz

What prompted your return to pop with playing live in 2014 and then making your debut solo album ‘Science Fiction’ in 2018?

I was away from it for a long time… in fact, I thought I would never come back to mainstream pop music. But a Mexican artist Aleks Syntek asked me to contribute to an album he was making of all his childhood heroes, so he asked me to do a track because I was someone he used to listen to as a kid. The project is called ‘Legends’ and it hasn’t been released yet, although I actually worked on this over 10 years ago, I think he’s still trying to convince all these childhood heroes to get involved! *laughs*

Anyway, that made me realise how much I love pop music, that I was wrong to have ignored it for so long. There’s something very special about that form and the connection with the audience which add up to making it an irresistible thing for me now. For some reason, I’d turned away from it, partly at Alannah’s insistence, she wanted to kill off THOMPSON TWINS and put it to bed forever… but I rediscovered it and think it’s a wonderful thing, so there you go!

Which of your songs from ‘Science Fiction’ have become best accepted and enjoyed by your audience in the live context?

I often play the title track ‘Science Fiction’ live and there’s a song off the album called ‘Shooting Star’ which goes down well. Very occasionally if it’s appropriate in the dynamics of the show, I do a song ‘Come So Far’ which is an emotional take on political matters of the time… all of these songs go down well when they get the chance to be aired.

How did the live partnership with BLANCMANGE for 2026 come to be?

I always enjoyed listening to BLANCMANGE back in the day, I was a bit of a fan and got to meet them a couple of times but never really became that close until quite recently. I started working with Neil Arthur, we get on so well and become friends so we decided to continue that relationship and do a tour together. Neil is amazing live, BLANCMANGE have got great sounding hits so I’m very happy they’re coming along on this one.

Photo by James Cumpsty

THOMPSON TWINS and BLANCMANGE had their chart breakthroughs at around almost the same time, them with ‘Living On The Ceiling’ and you with ‘Love On Your Side’, how do you remember that period when ‘Lies’ reached the lower reaches of the charts to your first ‘Top Of The Pops’ appearance in 1983? Did you feel something was about to happen?

Yes, I think so! But of course, we were innocents, like lambs to the slaughter I think is the term! *laughs*

We didn’t realise what was going to happen but someone from the record company rather perceptively took me aside when we were about to go on ‘Top Of The Pops’ for the first time and said “try to enjoy the next couple of weeks because this only happens once where you feel that giddy sensation of the elevator taking off” and it was true! Within 2 weeks, we couldn’t walk down the streets of London without being captured by people! So things changed very very quickly! *laughs*

With ‘Lies’, you got that amazing fretless bass sound from a synth, how did you do that?

I did it all on an Oberheim OBXa, the entire ‘Quick Step & Side Kick’ album was recorded using that one synthesizer… I discovered a good bass sound and because I’m a keyboardist, that how that happened!

Was it the way synthesizer and drum machine technology was developing that allowed you to slim down THOMPSON TWINS to what became the classic trio?

TOTALLY! You’re absolutely right! For years and years, I wanted to own and use a synthesizer but I could never afford one. What happened was the price of synthesizers came down to the point where my earnings went up a little and I was able to scrimp and save to buy myself a polyphonic synthesizer. From that moment exactly, I started changing the way I made music.

The first thing I did was a filler track on an album called ‘Set’… we didn’t have enough songs so I made a song called ‘In The Name Of Love’ which kind of embarrassingly became the hit single on the album. It showed me that was the direction that I really wanted to go in. I’d borrowed a couple of synths before that but the first one I got to own and know was the Oberheim OBXa, it’s a fantastic piece of kit. I still have it or rather my son has it somewhere *laughs*

Certainly ‘Quick Step & Side Kick’ and ‘Into The Gap’ were made entire with that synth. In terms of pure synthesis, the Oberheim is my favourite and I have a long connection with it that is almost emotional. But of course, we moved into digital sampling as well so the Fairlight became my main instrument after a while.

The next single ‘We Are Detective’ has some sonic similarities with ABBA’s ‘Head Over Heels’ in that synth tango thing, was that an influence or was it more like Grace Jones ‘I’ve Seen That Face Before (Libertango)’?

I don’t know the ‘Head Over Heels’ ABBA song so it couldn’t have been that, maybe someone played it in my sleep but I doubt it! *laughs*

But certainly I loved ‘Libertango’ which is like classic French noir isn’t it? The idea of using accordions and castanets and things just suited our cartoonish ability to laugh at ourselves and act out a part. Of course, the title of the song is a reference to the two Belgian detectives from Hergé’s ‘Tin Tin’; that European stylistic nod all makes sense if you look at it that way.

Speaking of Grace Jones, you did ‘Watching’ with her, what was she like to work with?

Grace is an accomplished trained opera singer, not many people know that but she was able to deliver the richest operatic tone in her voice, I was almost shocked because I just saw her as an interesting disco diva but she has these amazing qualities in her voice. We all had fun doing it, this was in Compass Point Studio in The Bahamas where we just by chance come to be both working.

Photo by James Cumpsty

Is there anyone today you would like to duet with?

Oooh… I better start making a list now then! There must be many! I work a lot of my own so it’s a pleasure where you can lock horns with someone creatively… I’ll get back to you on that I think! *laughs*

Many would say THOMPSON TWINS’ imperial phase came with ‘Hold Me Now’, ‘Doctor! Doctor!’, and ‘You Take Me Up’? Were these songs about the same person?

No! Every song has a different story of origin and some of them are simple, and some of them are complicated with all sorts of stuff! I think sometimes songs just happen in writing mode, sometimes you wake up in the morning and set out to write a song about something. So the story of origin is different in every case.

America really took to THOMPSON TWINS and you played the Philadelphia leg of Live Aid with Madonna and Nile Rodgers in your backing band! That’s mad when you look back at that, what are your memories of that day?

It was an enormously important day and a good example of how back then, music had an ambition to make the world a better place. Sometimes these days, I miss that… I think somehow pop music has become too self-obsessed with celebrity and really, it’s a little bit empty if it’s just about fame and fortune. So making world a better place should be the ambition of art.

We were working in New York with Nile Rodgers on the album ‘Here’s To Future Days’. So we rather casually said to Bob Geldof “Can we play Philadelphia rather than have to come all the way back to London when we have a recording session to do?”, but then not having our band with us, we started looking around for musicians.

We found a lot from the David Letterman band who had the evening off as Live Aid was taking over the airwaves! Steve Stevens from Billy Idol’s band we had been working with so I invited him. Nile obviously played the guitar and he’d just worked with Madonna so we did backstage deal to sing backing vocals on each other’s sets, so we sang her songs and she sang ours!

How do you compare touring back then to touring now?

In a way, it’s better organised now and I think also, it’s easier because you learn to pace yourself better but also, you’re not as ambitious. You’re not looking to take over the world! *laughs*

It’s more calm in your own mind so you’re free to enjoy the experience of playing in front of a crowd of people who want to hear you. I enjoy it a lot more now I think than I did then.

What are your favourite THOMPSON TWINS tracks?

This is always a difficult question to answer because it’s like being asked who your favourite child is *laughs*

They all have qualities you admire and want to emphasise. Everyone wants to hear ‘Hold Me Now’, ‘Doctor! Doctor!’, ‘You Take Me Up’, ‘Sister of Mercy’ but there are tracks beyond that so it’s up to you whether to go with the widely celebrated hits or look further. But there’s an interesting history there and I would remind you this compilation ‘Industry & Seduction’ actually tries to navigate that and put those songs on display.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Tom Bailey

Special thanks to Sacha Taylor-Cox at Hush PR

THOMPSON TWINS ‘Industry & Seduction’ is released by BMG as a CD, 3CD box set and download

THOMPSON TWINS’ TOM BAILEY + BLANCMANGE UK 2026 Tour Dates: Aylesbury Friars Aylesbury at the Waterside Theatre (10th September), Bath The Forum (11th September), Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre (12th September), Manchester Bridgwater Hall (13th September), Whitley Bay Playhouse (15th September), Glasgow Pavilion Theatre (16th September), Birmingham Town Hall (18th September), London Indigo at the O2 (19th September), Brighton Chalk (20th September), Guildford G Live (21st September), Cambridge Junction (23rd September), Buxton Opera House (24th September), Nottingham Rock City (25th September), York Barbican (26th September) – tickets on sale at https://www.alttickets.com/thompson-twins-tom-bailey-tickets

http://thompsontwinstombailey.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/ThompsonTwinsTomBailey/

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Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
17th November 2025

AUSTRA Chin Up Buttercup

13 November 2025 /

Classically schooled Canadian vocalist and composer Katie Stelmanis is back as AUSTRA with her fifth album ‘Chin Up Buttercup’.

As the title suggests, ‘Chin Up Buttercup’ is a cathartic record that captures the aftermath following her break-up with her long-term partner in early 2020; “I was completely blindsided” Stelmanis said, “the person I loved woke up one day, told me she wasn’t happy, and I basically never saw her again…”

Stelmanis kept smiling outwardly and with her co-producer Kieran Adams, she found solace in the sound of Madonna’s 1998 album ‘Ray of Light’ which was produced by William Orbit. Inspired, the end result is a set of hypnotic dancefloor-friendly arias to soothe a broken heart.

With Stelmanis admitting “I’m so chaotic in love”, the opener ‘Amnesia’ starts delicately before engaging into a rhythmic Europop bounce. However, like a discontented ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’, the superb ‘Math Equation’ offers a sad syncopated dance tune shaped by elegiac synths with frank observations on modern dating and the revelation that “you said I needed my own friends and then you f*cked them”

The very short ‘Chin Up Buttercup’ title song combines flute with drum ‘n’ bass in a delightfully oddball style but providing another fine highlight, the angelic ‘Fallen Cloud’ clubs it up but the tune remains atmospheric, melodic and uplifting throughout without resorting to EDM clichés. Meanwhile the emotive ‘Siren Song’ utilises subtle percussive chatters in its backbone.

Taking proceedings down slightly with rests and gentle arpeggios, our heroine gets ‘Blindsided’ as ‘Think Twice’ bleeps and beats in an avant operatic style with bursts of “oh whoops!” as she questions her lover’s dropping of the hand grenade.

‘Look Me In The Eye’ starkly captures Stelmanis’ upset and disbelief to declare “I don’t want to cry…” but as the longest offering on the album, ‘The Hopefulness of Dawn’ builds from an ambient, almost acapella intro to go full-on rave complete with happy hardcore chipmunks signalling that optimism might be on the horizon. Now with an acceptance of the need to move on, ‘Good Riddance’ gives the finger in a blippy minimal ballad that is almost like an electronic hymn.

Photo by Lamia Karic

Everyone has experienced romantic grief in one form or another… while many see break-up as an embarrassment, the reality is that it cuts much deeper. Unafraid to express contrasting emotions like anxiety and excitement, pleasure and pain, jealousy and attraction, Stelmanis gets into an uncomfortable but relatable headspace.

Heartbreak set to a dance beat, ‘Chin Up Buttercup’ presents AUSTRA’s most accessible album since 2011’s debut ‘Feel It Break’ as Katie Stelmanis exposes her vulnerability in a manner not heard previously.

‘Chin Up Buttercup’ is released 14th November 2025 by Domino Recordings, available on limited edition neon orange vinyl, standard black vinyl, CD and digitally

AUSTRA 2026 UK + Ireland live dates include: Glasgow Stereo (21st March), Salford White Hotel (22nd March), London Village Underground (23rd March), Dublin Workmans Club (25th March)

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
13th November 2025

FRANZ SCALA Interview

10 November 2025 /

Photo by Zeyd Ayoob

The Berlin-based Italian DJ and producer Franz Scala has just released his second album ‘Café Futuro’.

Issued on his own label Slow Motion, Franz Scala is a global champion of the Italian Dance Wave sound. A man who has been behind events like Italorama and Self Control, ‘Café Futuro’ is named after the bar he once ran in Neukölln which acted as a gathering point for the Italo and Cosmic Disco community.

Triggering feelings of nostalgia while presenting a modern dance-friendly underground sound, ‘Café Futuro’ differs from its 2021 predecessor ‘Mondo Della Notte’ by diving deeper to feature vocal contributions from international artists resident in Berlin such as FUROTICA, DINA SUMMER and Charlie, as well as Los Angeles-based duo ACID GYMNASTICS.

Featuring tantalising vocals from Argentine duo FUROTICA, ‘New Look’ makes a thumping statement of intent as the album opener while Franz Scala is joined by Dina of LOCAL SUICIDE and DINA SUMMER on equally thumping but more squiggly ‘Saxon Rebel’. Poland’s Charlie provides her enigmatic charm on the jagged throb of ‘Crush Test’ but alongside these vocal statements are his instrumental excursions like the retro-futuristic ‘Bit99’, the emulated nocturnal drive of ‘Echoes Of Love’ and the vibrant Euro-house of ‘Fantasy Bazar’. In addition, ‘Light Year Run’ will please anyone who has ever enjoyed a NEW ORDER Italo disco-inspired instrumental.

Franz Scala chatted to ELECTICITYCLUB.CO.UK about the making of ‘Café Futuro’ and discussed several of the album’s highlights…

What brought an Italian DJ to Berlin?

I first came to Berlin because I had the need to experience living in a big city. Back in Italy, I was already collecting records and DJing, but discovering Berlin was unique and open-minded. It gave me the space to explore different sounds and build something slowly, surrounded by people who were in my same music scenario.

How do you become entranced by what is now referred to worldwide as “Italo”? Were there key moments or tracks for you that started your interest?

My connection with Italo started naturally through record digging. At first, I was more into wave and early electronic records, but at some point, I found myself drawn to the cinematic side of Italian dance music from the 80s. There wasn’t one track that changed everything, but discovering artists like Alexander Robotnick or Klein & MBO definitely opened that world for me. It was music that felt familiar.

Photo by Julius Dettmer

How do you yourself define Italo, does it have to be a native species as some fans dictate or is it more like an attitude, an approach that can be universal?

For me, Italo is not just about geography. It’s a more playful way of production that can go in a different way and at the same time keep the attitude. Of course, the roots are Italian, but the spirit can be anywhere. It’s about how you approach melody, rhythm, and emotion with a certain “easy going” and fantasy. That can exist in Mexico, Japan, or Germany as much as in Italy.

While you have been making music since 2011 first as Franz Underwear, your first full-length album ‘Mondo Della Notte’ didn’t come out until the end of 2021, how do you now look back on that record?

‘Mondo Della Notte’ was a long process. It was a collection of ideas that had been evolving for years. Looking back, it captured a specific time in Berlin nightlife and my own journey through it. I see it as a bridge between my early “Underwear” productions and what I’m doing now. It had a cinematic feel and still dancefloor oriented, while the new album is made more in a storytelling way.

Although ‘Mondo Della Notte’ featured vocal samples, the new album ‘Cafe Futuro’ has guest vocals on several tracks… what influenced this more word-led approach?

During the years after ‘Mondo Della Notte’, I played countless DJ gigs and I slowly got into how voices create an instant connection. I wanted ‘Café Futuro’ to feel more direct, while still keeping my sound textures. Collaborating with vocalists also brings unpredictability, they interpret the tracks differently and add something I wouldn’t have created alone.

The opening track ‘New Look’ features FUROTICA from Argentina, how did you come to be working with them?

I got to know their music first and then we met in person when they moved to Berlin. I really liked their blend of vocal performance, sound, and attitude, very disco and elegant. When I had the idea for ‘New Look’, I thought their presence would set the tone for the whole record. It was one of the first collaborations that shaped the album’s direction.

Photo by Julius Dettmer

How do decide which tracks remain instrumental and which get developed with vocals, are the latter presented to potential vocalists with a much barer structure?

For the ‘Café Futuro’ vocals, I had all instrumental tracks ready to go. Then I sent the instrumental to the collaboration artists. They place their vocal layer on top very naturally. Then I listen back and if needed, I edited a bit the vocal structure or the arrangement so that all the elements blend together. It’s more like a dialogue rather than a feature.

There is a fine underground club scene in Berlin and the new album has vocals by locally resident artists such as Charlie on ‘Crush Test’ and Dina from LOCAL SUICIDE / DINA SUMMER on ‘Saxon Rebel’; so what did you from a production and arrangement point of view to suit their different delivery styles?

Every vocalist has a different energy. With Charlie, it was about creating space and a hypnotic flow where her voice could float in and out, minimal but intense, it feels like a ballad vibe to me. With Dina, the focus was on rhythm and energy, something that carries her natural way of singing. In term of arrangement was more like natural layering vocals on top of my instrumental track than building the track together.

Do you have any favourite production tools? Are you a hardware or software-based man? The press release mentions EMU keys, are there any other vintage instruments in your armoury?

I use both hardware and software, depending on the mood. I like the hands-on approach of hardware because it’s less predictable. The EMU keys, Matrix 1000, Bit 99 or OO6 are central to my setup. I still use software for arrangement and effects – the mix between the two worlds feels most natural to me.

So is the dark thumping instrumental ‘Bit99’ named so because it mostly features that Italian synth? You must like its sounds but what do you think of its functionality?

Yes, the title comes from that synth. The Bit99 has a particular character a bit rough but warm, analogue and FM not perfect in terms of precision, but that’s what makes it interesting. It’s not the most versatile instrument, but when it fits, it gives a strong identity to the sound.

‘Café Futuro’ is released as a double album, is vinyl still the best format for your music? What are your thoughts on the spectre of streaming?

Vinyl still feels right for me because it represents a full work beginning, middle and end. The physical process of releasing and playing it connects people in a different way. That said, I understand streaming is how most people discover music now. It’s useful for reach, but it also fragments the listening experience. It’s good to balance both worlds.

The album has a very international supporting cast and vocals by ACID GYMNASTICS from Los Angeles appear on the bouncy album closer ‘Fase Lunare’, how did you decide on that coming last and compiling the overall running order? Is it like putting together a DJ set?

Exactly, sequencing an album feels similar to building a DJ set. You guide the listener through moods and energy changes. ‘Fase Lunare’ felt like the right way to close the record because it feels a bit more ethereal and more introspective. It’s like the sun rising at the end of the night.

Do you have a favourite track on ‘Café Futuro’ which we haven’t discussed yet? Why is this one a favourite?

Maybe ‘Telephone Boy’. It’s one of those tracks that came together very naturally and sounds very fresh and crossover to me. It captures the cinematic and emotional side of that record with a strong dancefloor oriented attitude. I think it will be one of the tracks from the album other DJs will play the most.

Photo by Zeyd Ayoob

What are your hopes for this album? Any fears?

I hope the album reaches people beyond the club environment, that it can be listened to at home, in a car, or anywhere, and still create a mood. My only fear is that in the fast pace of music consumption, albums don’t always get the time they deserve. But I believe those who connect with it will take the time.

What is next for you?

I’m already working on new material, a couple of new releases already l planned for 2026. There will also be a remix release from ‘Café Futuro’ tracks. Apart from that, I’ll keep playing around and supporting projects that explore that intersection between 80s and modern dance music, the balance I’m always chasing.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its grateful thanks to Franz Scala

Additional thanks to Dina Paschalidou Brudi at Eclectica

‘Café Futuro’ is released as a double vinyl LP and download by Slow Motion Records, go to https://slowmotionrecords.lnk.to/CafeFuturo

https://www.slowmotionmusic.it/project/franz-scala/

https://soundcloud.com/franz-scala

https://www.instagram.com/franzscala/

https://www.facebook.com/italiandancewave

https://soundcloud.com/slow-motion-records

https://www.instagram.com/slowmotion_records/

https://www.facebook.com/slowmotionrecords/

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
10th November 2025

ASSEMBLAGE 23 Null

6 November 2025 /

‘Null’ is the tenth album by ASSEMBLAGE 23 and with it, their mainman Tom Shear shows no signs of waning in his creative muse.

Titled around the concept of “zero” or “nothing” being either positive or negative depending on the context, while Shear’s deeply personal and relatable lyrical gists remain, ‘Null’ provides more wider social commentary than in the past and reflecting on the fact that the world has gone crazy!

The fine trancey opener ‘Believe’ accepts that the world is cold, indifferent and cruel with pain delegated yet there is still the will to believe in hope. The resigned but powerfully vibrant ‘Lunatics’ reflects that they really have taken over the asylum. With a sonic affinity to DIE KRUPPS’ electro alter-egos DIE ROBO SAPIENS, this is a rallying call against those in power and the oligarchs funding them. The media are complicit in spreading the messages of the monster raving loony far right but the fact is Nazis are bad and Charlie Kirk was a vile racist. So the fight begins now to get the world back before it is too late…

With a stark Mittel Europa chill, ‘Gone’ laments on loss despite the energetic stomp, reflecting on how as you age, one of the unfortunate things about that is the list of people who you know and who die grows. ‘Fuel’ adds something of an Italo bounce to the pessimism as the contrasts make a rousing pairing but Shear continues to know how to do a chorus.

The spikier speedier drive of ‘Tolerate’ highlights why ASSEMBLAGE 23 filled underground dancefloors at start of the 21st Century. Inspired by The Paradox Of Tolerance, Shear said in an interview with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK: “If you tolerate intolerance, then tolerance will cease to exist because the intolerance will wipe it out. So the point is, somebody who considers themselves tolerant has a limit… that line, once it’s crossed”

‘Normal’ takes things down to a less frantic pace but while possessing a machine groove, Shear expresses his desire for more certainty and normality his life as the synths ring out. The punchy cut and thrust of ‘Last’ stuns the mind, displaying an affinity with MESH in its piercing drama. Galloping mightily to ‘The Line’ with hints of DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Halo’, this blend of dark electronic pop influences provides another standout full of resigned drama when “it doesn’t matter anyway…”

The call to ‘Overthrow’ is strong with jagged backing to match in this electro-rock romp that parties like it’s 2002 again while the closer ‘Waited’ is classic ASSEMBLAGE 23 and what Shear’s fans love him for, with equal measures of heartfelt soul-bearing, synth hooks galore and driving club-friendly beats.

The future might be bleak but the resistance starts now. With its on-point social commentary, ‘Null’ ranks among the best of ASSEMBLAGE 23’s albums and provides a soundtrack to help navigate around and against the ensuing chaos.

‘Null’ is released by Metropolis Records on 7th November 2025 as a CD, vinyl LP + download via https://assemblage23.bandcamp.com/album/null

https://www.assemblage23.com/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100044546464584

https://www.instagram.com/officialassemblage23/

https://bsky.app/profile/assemblage23.bsky.social

Text by Chi Ming Lai
6th November 2025

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