Category: Introducing (Page 1 of 25)

Introducing A THOUSAND MAD THINGS

29 October 2025 /

Marrying the pleasure with the pain, A THOUSAND MAD THINGS is the solo synth artist William Barradale who finds solace in untempered expression.

He has already impressed by opening for THE HUMAN LEAGUE earlier this year on Brighton Beach while thanks to a licensing deal, he is also label mates at Nettwerk Music Group with LADYTRON. ‘Cry & Dance’ is the debut EP release from A THOUSAND MAD THINGS and takes listeners on a shadowy journey through adolescent memories, queer love and loneliness.

With his haunted demeanour and navigating young manhood as a tortured outsider, William Barradale’s vocal delivery falls under the spectre of those late doomed romantics Billy MacKenzie of ASSOCIATES and Trevor Herion of THE FALLOUT CLUB.

‘Wide Awake’ at first comes over like the generic darkwave that has afflicted electronic pop over the past few years but victory is snatched from defeat with a soaring chorus to savour. ‘Girl’ focusses on deeper resonances and takes its lead from SUICIDE in its bass line but ‘Local Guys’ is embroiled in tension as Barradale showcases his emotional range as he reflects on the violent turns of former acquaintances.

Rhythmically ‘She’s on the Run’ is shaped by that classic synthpop bounce with piercing string machines while to close ‘Cry & Dance’, ‘My Car’ percussively recalls ‘Fade To Grey’ with hints of OMD in the melancholy stakes.

Possibly the most promising male UK synth act since MIRRORS, it will be interesting to see where A THOUSAND MAD THINGS goes and where William Barradale takes things next following this enjoyable short and sharp debut EP.

‘Cry & Dance’ is released under licence via Nettwerk Music Group and available as a digital EP from https://athousandmadthings.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574810537242

https://www.instagram.com/athousandmadthings/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiH0XGmfKMWzM_VsizMgP8A

https://open.spotify.com/album/3EUBP1d4m3f5lbVTXUI9un

Text by Chi Ming Lai with thanks to Gabriel Gaminde
29th October 2025

Introducing SHEARS

1 May 2025 /

Photo by Laura Prieto Martin

Having already debuted with the ‘Now We’re Getting Somewhere’ EP in 2024, Scottish artist SHEARS follows up her effervescent single ‘Bad Dream’ with ‘Arcade Machine’.

A modern day electronic music producer who writes, records and mixes from her home studio in Leith as well as independently releasing her music, both singles are from her forthcoming debut album ‘We Are But Chemicals’ due in late 2025. SHEARS takes inspiration from strong willed independent women in music such as Robyn, Grimes, Marina and Self Esteem, something that is particularly channelled in her vocals.

Often dance flavoured and ranging from the garage beats that shape ‘Bad Dream’ to the more straight fours of ‘In The Dark’ and spikier offbeat shuffles of ‘Slow Burn’, SHEARS’ songs are catchy pop statements that retain an artful quality with well-crafted sound design. Lyrically they reflect her personal experiences as a woman in a still sexist music industry. She is also part of Glasgow’s female and non-binary songwriting collective Hen Hoose, funded by Creative Scotland.

Visualised by an animated video created by Genevieve Ryan exploring the feeling of being stuck, SHEARS said of ‘Arcade Machine’: “This song is about control. Someone was giving me unsolicited advice on who could help ‘boost me’ in the music industry without knowing that having someone else control my music and actions was my worst nightmare. I could only imagine being controlled like an arcade machine.”

A slice of boisterous infectious pop, ‘Arcade Machine’ comes with drum ‘n’ bass rhythms, enticing synths and relatable existential angst.

‘Arcade Machine’ and ‘Bad Dream’ are available on the usual online platforms

https://www.imshears.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ImSHEARS

https://www.instagram.com/imshears

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

https://www.henhoose.com/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/2xlYBgG5r6QTLpmF1u04nK

Text by Chi Ming Lai
1st May 2025

Introducing SPIKE

5 March 2025 /

Spike is the nom de théâtre of London-based singer-songwriter Hannah McLoughlin.

Under her own name, she released an experimental electronic soundscape EP ‘The Tower’ in 2020 and has been a regular performer at London’s Cafe Oto. But Spike is a much more song-based and avant popcentric, influenced by Irish composer Roger Doyle and his songs as part of OPERATING THEATRE like ‘Spring Is Coming With A Strawberry In The Mouth’ and ‘Queen Of No Heart’ which featured the vocals of Elena López and were released by U2’s Mother label in 1986.

Adept at flute, EWI and synth, Spike delivers a brand of macabre disco dealing with the undead and the inhuman. It’s therefore perhaps no big surprise that her debut self-titled EP opens with a deadpan electronic cover of Warren Zevon’s ‘Werewolves Of London’. A gothic reimagining, this will be seen as sacrilege to some but it is certainly more inventive than Kid Rock’s pick ‘n’ nick hatchet job ‘All Summer Long’!

The video for ‘Werewolves Of London’ was filmed by McLoughlin on 16mm and included many of the London Soho landmarks referenced in Zevon’s lyrics except the Lee Ho Fook Chinese restaurant in Gerrard Street which was part of the original lyrics and closed in 2008. Incidentally, this was 3 doors away from the now-also closed Gooseberry Studios which was where Gary Numan recorded ‘Are Friends Electric?’

The promising EP also includes the enjoyable melancholic Motorik rave of ‘Tiquetonne’ which delightfully interpolates ‘Con Te Partiro’ aka ‘Time To Say Goodbye’ as made famous by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. More rhythmically metronomic and possibly the stand-out song, the wonderful ‘You’re Missing’ offers a slice of glorious angelic oompah and vocally recalls the sadly departed Trish Keenan of BROADCAST.

‘Voca Me’ brings in a deeper ghostly atmosphere but as it shuffles along, it deals out more choir girl resonances in the second half. The EP closes with the eerie vocodered tone poem ‘I Could Wait’ where the cerebral approaches of Laurie Anderson loom large.

Short and sweet, this varied debut showcasing an intriguing new talent provides a fresh take on electronic avant pop seeded by that uniquely British eccentricity.

The ‘Spike’ EP is released by God Nation, available digitally from https://gobnation.bandcamp.com/album/s-t-4

https://www.instagram.com/__s.p.i.k.e.__/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/39uMUO8aGb1e8smPZBb6fd

Text by Chi Ming Lai
5th March 2025

Introducing MINDREADER

10 May 2024 /

If ACTORS were fronted by DLINA VOLNY and went to a horror flick all-nighter with BOY HARSHER, that would be a good way to describe MINDREADER.

Like ACTORS, MINDREADER are from Canada, a Montreal-based quartet comprising Valerie Kirkwell, Edward Scrimger, Bryan Greenfield and Alexandre Duguay; their tagline is “Can’t spell MINDREADER without dread”. Since forming in 2023, MINDREADER have been developing their sound and visual aesthetic under the radar. Creating an air of mystique, they have also limited their social media presence as an antithesis to the “LOOK AT US! WE’VE AWESOME!” attitude of many of today’s fledgling acts.

With a stark propulsive tension, EP opener and MINDREADER’s first single and ‘The Kill’ really does put ACTORS, DLINA VOLNY and BOY HARSHER into an enticing melting pot of synths and effected guitar. Adopting a template of deep resonance, the superb gothic techno of ‘Leviathan’ points towards the alternative dancefloor menace of European acts such as NNHMN and MINUIT MACHINE.

‘Parasite’ explores more post punk territory with SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES being the obvious template here vocally while rhythmically, it is more JOY DIVISION. Recalling LINEA ASPERA, the more artful ‘Soft Pull’ returns to the dancefloor with it buzzy doom disco and haunting storytelling before with a more funereal skip, ‘Outsider’ brings in a unusual cross of fleeting dubstep rhythms, scratchy art funk six-string and bass drones to close.

With the familiar themes of loss, despair, and empowerment, nostalgia is a coat that MINDREADER unashamedly wear in their take on post-punk, synth and darkwave. But already with this debut EP, the quartet have shown with songs like ‘Leviathan’ and ‘Soft Pull’ that they are more than comfortable to musically twist and turn as they attempt to present “their unique version of the genre to life”.

‘Cope With Me’ is self-released as a digital EP, available on the usual online platforms and direct from https://mindreader.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/mindreader.music/

https://linktr.ee/mindreader.music

https://open.spotify.com/album/0T47AIXyFZz81YskqyJs4Z

Text by Chi Ming Lai
10th May 2024

Introducing BRIGITTE BARDINI

6 October 2023 /

Photo by Bella Salvatore

Hailing from Melbourne in Australia, Brigitte Bardini is the latest artist to embrace her dark side having begun as an acoustic singer songwriter.

Moving away from the dreampop and shoegaze of her earlier material like ‘Aphrodite’ and ‘Moving On’ but developing on the airy electronic pop of ‘Heartbreaker’, her new single ‘Start A Fire’ embraces a trancey tension within a shady techno backdrop. With shades in her vocals of Berlin-based producer Ema Jolly aka Emika, ‘Start A Fire’ captures an alluring gothique on top of a gritty dance tempo while simultaneously haunting and melodic.

“My last release, ‘Stellar Lights’, was very band oriented which I found at times unaccessible for a solo artist when it came to scheduling shows.” said Brigitte Bardini of her change in direction following her 2021 debut album. “Since I had all the tools to write, record and produce my own work, I decided I can focus more in a direction that allows flexibility where I could perform with minimal dependence on other factors. This was mainly the mindset that led me into electronic music.”

“I think the ‘darker’ sound came from my exploration into using minimal layers in my production and instead choosing sounds that are strong and sometimes abrasive” she added, “The new darkwave and techno music of the 80s and 90s provided me huge inspiration for this. I was listening to a lot of UNDERWORLD, NEW ORDER, DEPECHE MODE and Gary Numan.”

Written and produced entirely by Bardini, the accompanying video for ‘Start A Fire’ features our heroine as a femme fatale with a day job presenting on a TV shopping channel who has murdered her partner the night before by burning down his house… it is all sinister stuff but visually and aurally absorbing. The stylised rage recalls strong female characters in films like ‘Pulp Fiction’ and ‘Kill Bill’ as well as more recent drama action series such as ‘Warrior’.

“I always found a huge amount of pleasure in experimenting with sound and honing in on the production side of making music” she said of her new sound, “My attraction to abrasive sounds and darker themes, being a huge horror fan, really led me naturally into the dark electronic pop genre for this release. Once I recognised that the ‘dark’ side of music and film became a refuge and a bottomless pit of inspiration, I then knew where to look when I needed ideas which helped to develop a clearer vision in my work”.

Of her future plans, Bardini told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK “I will be releasing another single very soon and there is an album on the horizon. The song releases to come are all electronic and based in exploration of sound and 80s inspired visuals.”

‘Start A Fire’ is released by Ruby Valley Records, available from online platforms including https://brigittebardini.bandcamp.com/track/start-a-fire

https://www.facebook.com/BrigitteBardiniMusic

https://twitter.com/BardiniBrigitte

https://www.instagram.com/brigitte_bardini/

https://linktr.ee/BrigitteBardini

Text by Chi Ming Lai
6 October 2023

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