After a period of generic darkwave and those of a gothic disposition singing in octaves far too low, hope was provided for dark electronic pop with the emergence of A THOUSAND MAD THINGS in 2025. Another hoping to make a similar impression is Canada’s AVRO.
Now the solo project of Adam Percy, AVRO follows in the lineage of pioneering synth acts such as RATIONAL YOUTH and PSYCHE. Releasing the debut EP ‘Anatomy Act’ in 2016 and an album ‘Futuretroactivism’ in 2022 when Megan Rose was a member, the new mini-album ‘Psychopathé’ certainly has hooks, beats and well-delivered vocals when none of these attributes have been considered particularly important by purveyors of darker forms in recent times.
As the best track on this release, ‘Perfect World’ exudes this wonderful rhythmic bounce where the “air synth” factor is also high. Meanwhile on ‘Insomaniac’, there is a combination of cool IDM inflections and classic synthpop resonances within the verses before proceedings uplift in the choruses while female spoken word en Français in the middle eight add allure. The ‘Psychopathé’ title song’s cold introspection rumbles and rolls nicely with a good use of percussive dynamics.
But while ‘Blue Light, Hot Dreams’ presents an infectious dance flavour and makes good use of synthetic snaps in its backbone, its repetitious nature oversteps by going on far too long despite clocking in at a much shorter length than ‘Insomaniac’. The closing track ‘Liars in Love’ though is perhaps the less immediate and less convincing of the set.
A diagnosis on the corrosive nature of celebrity culture, there are moments to enjoy throughout ‘Psychopathé’ as it offers hints of light amongst the pathological tension.
‘Cry & Dance’, the debut EP by A THOUSAND MAD THINGS was the best long form release of 2025.
The solo synth vehicle of William Barradale, ‘Cry & Dance’ captured the lot of the tortured outsider navigating young manhood while threatened by homophobic ‘Local Guys’ as documented in the emotive tension of the same named song. The EP’s opening salvo ‘Wide Awake’ was an uplifting triumph that showed purveyors of generic darkwave a thing or two about songwriting and production, while ‘She’s On The Run’ brought ‘The Sound Of The Crowd’ into the 21st Century in a fitting artistic gesture having opened for THE HUMAN LEAGUE on Brighton Beach.
A THOUSAND MAD THINGS begins 2026 with a brand new single ‘Promises’ as a trailer to his new EP out later this year. Its 5 tracks were premiered live at the London new music evening Release Me last November. Although a natural progression from ‘Cry & Dance’, it dials down on its more obvious nostalgic reminiscences.
While William Barradale can count TEARS FOR FEARS, THE HUMAN LEAGUE, DEPECHE MODE, THE BLUE NILE, ASSOCIATES and the less well-known VITAMIN Z (who opened for Midge Ure on ‘The Gift’ tour in 1985) among his influences, ‘Promises’ goes a bit deeper and catches the bouncy rhythmic snap of THE CURE during their fantasy phase to exude an artful pop demeanour. Despite being hurt once and hurt twice, the visual accompaniment shows Barradale fingers crossed in a disused warehouse, mournfully reflecting that “I’d never break the promises I chose to make that night”.
With the likes of Ricky Wilde and Andy Bell’s Torsten collaborator Barney Ashton-Bullock offering their compliments to A THOUSAND MAD THINGS on social media, things are looking promising for William Barradale in his shadowy journey through adolescent memories, doomed romances and loneliness.
1979 was a significant year where the sound of synth truly hit the mainstream.
TUBEWAY ARMY reached No1 with ‘Are Friends Electric?’ while the Giorgio Moroder produced ‘No1 Song In Heaven’ by SPARKS had actually got to No14 a few months earlier. Synths were no longer the novelty gimmick as perceived when ‘Popcorn’ and ‘Autobahn’ became hits. As synths became more affordable, they became a worthy mode of expression, especially for the younger generation seeking something new.
From Cherry Red comes an unexpected addition to their ‘Musik Music Musique’ series; subtitled ‘1979: The Roots of Synth Pop, this 3CD 60 track collection is a prequel tracing how outsider aesthetics, prog rock, post-punk and a willingness to experimental clashed with pop sensibilities to produce a sonic sandwich of accessible electronic music.
The two gamechanging UK No1s ‘Are Friends Electric?’ and ‘Cars’ are both included and even today, how Gary Numan changed the musical landscape cannot be understated although notably absent are SPARKS. It is not insignificant that both continue to fill theatres today.
The sound of synth being the next big thing would be confirmed by THE BUGGLES also hitting the UK top spot not long after ‘Cars’ while ‘Living By Numbers’ by NEW MUSIK issued as 1979 was concluding would just miss out on the Top10 in the New Year; but both their respective leaders Trevor Horn and Tony Mansfield were astute enough to recognise their longevity as unlikely popstars would be short and they would make their fortune as record producers. Incidentally, the first released version of ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ by Bruce Woolley featuring Thomas Dolby on keyboards in a welcome inclusion and while it is good, THE BUGGLES’ sharper futuristic vision gives it the edge.
Another future producer figuring in this 1979 set is Zeus B Held with his self-referencing ‘Held It’ timestamping the transitional use of synths and vocoders in prog rock to new wave pop, something which his production for Gina X on ‘Nice Mover’ would more than wonderfully compute in its Marlene-inspired disco lento.
THE HUMAN LEAGUE are represented by the mighty ‘Blind Youth’, the best track from their debut album ‘Reproduction’ which attacked the raincoat wearing gloom merchants of England’s North West. But the pointer to the futures of original members Philip Oakey, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh comes with ‘I Don’t Depend On You’, their one-off as THE MEN which came out a few months before ‘Reproduction’; a fairly commercial slice of disco pop, it featured real guitar, bass, drums and female backing singers in a prescient experiment that after the split of the band shaped the next incarnation of Ver League and HEAVEN 17.
While acknowledged cult classics such OMD’s ‘Almost’, ‘Rock Around The Clock’ by TELEX, SILICON TEENS’ cover of ‘Memphis Tennessee’, FAD GADGET’s ‘Back To Nature’ and ‘Attack Decay’ from Thomas Leer & Robert Rental are present and correct, the joy from these boxed sets comes with the inclusion of rare tracks.
Two of the most interesting come via the ULTRAVOX axis although neither could be considered the best works from those concerned. From VISAGE comes the less familiar vocal version of ‘Frequency 7’ which was the B-side of their first single ‘Tar’ and would be turned into a far superior instrumental dance mix. John Foxx presents a curio documenting him still finding his solo feet on ‘Young Love’, a bizarre track which was actually pressed as an acetate in 1979. It was even assigned a Virgin catalogue number but was later abandoned as a possible single, superseded first by ‘A New Kind Of Man’ which itself was ultimately dropped as a singular release in favour of ‘Underpass’.
Two enjoyable tracks which perhaps would now be accused of racial insensitivity are by QUANTUM JUMP and BLACK ROD; the former’s ‘Lone Ranger’ with its unforgettable Maori vocal intro was championed by Kenny Everett who used it on his TV show while the frantic electropop of ‘Going To The Country’ by the latter with its faux Jamaican accents is revealed to be the novelty cod reggae duo TYPICALLY TROPICAL who had a No1 in 1975 with ‘Barbados’!!! Less successful in the mock accent stakes is ‘Herr Wunderbar’ by St Albans-based Tanya Hyde which plays on the electro Weimar Cabaret theme but unfortunately, she is no Amanda Lear and the song is no ‘Follow Me’… it was to be her only solo single…
There is a nice surprise in the vocoder-laden DOLLAR B-side ‘Star Control’ while from the first “live to digital” album ‘E=MC²’ by Giorgio Moroder is the robotic disco delight of the closing title track with its vocodered credits that include “tea and coffee by Lori”. The adoption of devices such an rhythm units was something of an anti-rock ‘n’ roll statement and nothing can sum up this sentiment more than ‘Making Love With My Wife’, a quirky ode to the joys of marital sex by Henry Badowski that later appeared on Virgin Records electronic music collection ‘Machines’. Another artist appearing on that same 1980 compilation was Karel Fialka and he is represented by ‘Armband’, a track co-produced by Wally Brill who did the same duties for, yes, you’ve guessed it, Henry Badowski!
There are lesser known offerings by M, YELLO and the first line-up of FASHIØN but from the US comes an interesting quartet of tracks that shows the other side of the Atlantic was not all about the horrendous AOR of BOSTON and JOURNEY; THE CARS always had synths as a rogue element of their initial new wave sound and that is encapsulated by ‘Night Spots’, but produced by their leader Ric Ocasek, SUICIDE’s ‘Dream Baby Dream’ is still glorious.
‘Strange Pursuit’ is a good example of DEVO’s move towards more electronic instrumentation, but heavily influenced by Akron’s finest and not to be confused with the late member of German duo CLUSTER, ‘Mirror Of Infinity’ by American art rock band MOEBIUS is something of an icy jewel and deserves this recusing from obscurity.
Sweden would become a major adopter of synths in pop and the start of that nation’s journey is represented by ‘Oh Susie’, the debut single by SECRET SERVICE; setting the template for Europop, it was a Top10 in West Germany, Norway and Denmark as well as reaching No1 in their own country. Lead singer Ola Håkansson would later go on to duet with Agnetha Fältskog of ABBA on her own synth-laden solo songs ‘The Way You Are’ and ‘Fly Like The Eagle’.
Before ‘Miami Vice’, Jan Hammer had his self-referencing rock combo and he provides the spacey curio ‘Forever Tonight’ voiced by Glen Burtnick while having already left prog rockers GONG in 1975, Steve Hillage was incorporating more electronics alongside his guitar as exemplified by ‘Don’t Dither Do It’. Reinforcing the connection between prog and synth, another former GONG member Tim Blake teams up with Jean Phillipe Rykiel for the mystic and frankly bizarre ‘New Jerusalem’!
Tucked away towards the end of the set but undoubtedly the most epic even in single edit form, ‘Rheinita’ by NEU! offshoot LA DÜSSELDORF went Top3 in West Germany and is basically the OMD blueprint for ‘Architecture & Morality’ album; as Andy McCluskey himself said “People always talk to us about KRAFTWERK, and obviously, they were hugely important. But there was another element from Düsseldorf that influenced us, and that was the organic side which was firstly NEU! and then LA DÜSSELDORF…”
As with the previous ‘Musik Music Musique’ sets, there are a few clangers so it would be remiss not to mention these; the main audio one in this 1979 collection is the inclusion of the 1982 single remix of JAPAN’s ‘Life In Tokyo’ with the more prominent fretless bass overdubs by Mick Karn. On the Japanese “theme”, lessons still have not been learnt from previous booklets with regards photos and LANDSCAPE are pictured in their hit futurist jumpsuit guise as opposed to the jazz rock band seen in transition on ‘Tomorrow’s World’ at the time performing ‘Japan’, the track included in this set. Incidentally, the band who influenced this track YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA deserved inclusion, especially as the iconic trio were featured in a previous set and released their best album ‘Solid State Survivor’ in 1979 as well.
Meanwhile, a blond ‘Replicas’ era Gary Numan when he would have been suited and dark haired by the time of ‘Cars’ is in the booklet while the 1978 punk quartet incarnation of TUBEWAY ARMY represents the ‘Are Friends Electric?’ period which is totally wrong! And the quintet line-up of VISAGE from 1982 is pictured rather than the original 1979 septet who appeared in the now iconic Blitz Club photo taken by Sheila Rock.
Elsewhere, QUANTUM JUMP are mysteriously represented by a trio including bassist John G Perry but which does not include key members Rupert Hine and Trevor Morais who would both later go on to work with Howard Jones! At least there, one member was featured because whoever the quintet are in the photo of DALEK I, none are Alan Gill or Dave Hughes! Unlike in 1979, there is the internet now available as an initial info source and numerous real life experts around to fact check with, so this really doesn’t not take much effort to get right! If in doubt, then don’t use the photo!?!
In 1979, “Synth Pop” was yet to be a thing and with over 60 tracks, there is a mish-mash of styles with the common factor of the synth making itself heard to explore how the form was developing. For that eclectic reason alone, ‘Musik Music Musique: 1979 – The Roots of Synth Pop’ is probably the most fascinating of the four volumes to date.
Ulrika Mild says “I’m just a girl standing in front of a machine asking it to go ‘bleep bloop’…”
Under her alias of COMPUTE, she is one of the best kept secrets in Swedish electronic pop. Releasing her first EP ‘Dance With Me’ in 2004, longer form releases subsequently beamed forth with ‘This’ in 2009 and ‘The Distance’ in 2012.
COMPUTE went into hiatus as Mild raised a family with only occasional collaborations such as THE VOLT in 2016 with Eddie Bengtsson of PAGE and the more band-centric AMUSI in 2022. Then unexpectedly, 2023’s ‘the proper dimensions of a load bearing structure’ offered the first COMPUTE album for 11 years.
In 2025, Ulrika Mild has now entered a comparative roll; first came ‘NKI’, a summer protest record sung in Swedish pointing downward in its social criticism and honesty. But as the year comes to its conclusion, there is a new COMPUTE mini-album ‘The Pitch’, comprising of 6 new tracks in a return to expression in the English language.
Often afflicted by self-doubt and occasionally expressing her despair at releasing any new music at all, there is always hope and a captivating playfulness whenever Ulrika Mild gets behind her microphone and laptop. It is time to ”computify” again and for ‘The Pitch’, Mild has brought in external help for the first time with AMUSI bandmate Khyber Westlund coming in to mix and co-produce.
With a central theme of failure and loss running throughout ‘The Pitch’, ‘Close To Me’ is an impressively pensive song, embroiled in emotive tension both vocally and musically which does not forget the all-important hooks. Taking to honky tonk ivories for its intro, ‘Make It Right’ bursts into squelchy octave shifts and uplifting vocals for a delightfully odd sonic adventure. Elsewhere, the mightily percussive ‘Fail’ bursts with swooping avant synthpop stylings and creative distortion as our heroine fills the room with her Nordic expressionism.
More hypnotically bass-driven, ‘The Markings’ is glorious Scandi-synth with strange disconcerting noises, big beats, bubbling effects and plenty of melody sitting in harmony. With tasteful soprano operatics and held together with a thump and a throb, ‘Morning Still Comes’ journeys over to the Arctic horizon while switching to a more rhythmic crunch, the speedy arpeggiated mood of ‘Waking Hours’ sees Mild ominously ponder when “all this will one day be over…”
Dark without being totally doom-laden and utilising a more dynamic backbone than previous releases, ‘The Pitch’ is a satisfying melancholic body of work that continues the recent COMPUTE tradition to reflect the looming existential fears that threaten the modern world.
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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