Category: Introducing (Page 1 of 25)

Introducing SDH

11 February 2026 /

It might be strange to be introducing SEMIOTICS DEPARTMENT OF HETERONYMS who already have 2 albums to their name and toured extensively.

However, the intriguing Barcelona-based duo of Andrea P Latorre and Sergi Algiz are on the cusp of a wider international breakthrough having signed to Canadian independent Artoffact Records (home of FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY, ACTORS, LEATHERS, KANGA and ULTRA SUNN) a few years ago.

From the wider family of dark but danceable duos that include LINEA ASPERA, BOY HARSHER, ESSAIE PAS, PARADOX OBCUR, LOCAL SUICIDE and NNHMN, the shadowy interim single ‘Threshold’ in 2025 pointed to more ambitious structures and inventive interplay that built towards an unexpected climax. Occasionally though, SDH can do pop as ‘All Of That’, the Italo-influenced B-side to their 2022 single ‘Maybe A Body’ proved.

While their 2018 self-titled album debut was reissued by Artoffact in 2024, ahead their first long playing release of new material on the label, SDH have unleashed the superb title song as a single; ‘Rider’ pushes ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s buttons with nonchalant female vocals which then twist into something more traditionally folky in the haunting middle eight, Numanesque vox humana synths, spacey arpeggios and hypnotic dance rhythms attached to a squelchy synthbass mantra.

Framing the album’s themes around movement and escape, as well as falling under the spell of JG Ballard, the cerebral DIY video accompaniment for the track captures a tense cut-up aesthetic where a speedy windswept night drive with a blue showroom dummy encounters seedy alleyways, empty highways and wild wolves in the woods before the inevitable… it is bleak yet alluring!

Following their most recent album ‘Fake is Real’ with its highlights ‘Talk In Dreams’, ‘Hollowed Out’ and the brilliant COIL tribute ‘Balance’, SDH’s have promised further growth with a record of collisions or “crash body music” as described by the duo themselves. Intended to be heard after the impact, these are literally striking metaphors with “Bodies exposed to external forces, subjected to repeated impacts, and evaluated after the damage”.

‘Rider’ is from the forthcoming album of the same name released by Artoffact Records on 17th April 2026 in blue vinyl LP, CD and digital formats, pre-order from https://semioticsdepartmentofheteronyms.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/semioticsdepartmentofheteronyms/

https://www.instagram.com/sdh_______/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/2RA8ReKDkqwdnz1SSkWikD

Text by Chi Ming Lai
11th February 2026

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

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