Category: Reviews (Page 1 of 208)

BUNNY X Love On A High Floor

5 August 2026 /

New York duo BUNNY X returns to the characters of their debut “teenage nostalgia” album ‘Young & In Love’ and sees them navigating the glass towers of ambition as post-grad working girls for their new record ‘Love On A High Floor’.

However, set against the backdrop of Wall Street excess and the New York City real estate boom, ‘Love On A High Floor is also an exploration of the seductive promise of the American Dream and the disillusionment that often follows its pursuit. Yes, greed is not good…

Now comprising of Abigail Gordon and Jenny Bates, this is BUNNY X’s fantasy nostalgia recalling career ambitions, office romances, cocktail bars and late-night taxi rides taxi and penthouse suite. Mutating their retrowave sound, the marvellously breezy and uptempo opener ‘Starting Dreams’ sees Don Dellpiero producing and captures the excitement post-graduation and entering the workplace on a fit of “officewave” that is heavy on synthetic drums.

If Jane Wiedlin has adopted more of Stephen Hague’s characteristic electronic production style on ‘Rush Hour’, ‘True Confession’ is how it might have sounded! Working with the still oddly monikered SELLOREKT / LA DREAMS, it was originally one of his instrumentals ‘Another Dance’. Continuing this alliance, ‘One Touch’ adds a bit of subtle funk to the optimistic “truemance” backdrop with our heroines having “never felt like this before”; it features original BUNNY X member Mary Hanley and radiates optimism alongside some playful sophistication.

‘Even If We Don’t Talk’ is more characteristically retrowave in its nocturnal air while ‘After Hours’ plays on the same field at a steadier pace with a guitar solo thrown into the gameplay. As ‘Love On A High Floor’ heads into its second half, ‘Take Me Away’ gets things lively again although as a song, this is perhaps less convincing on the production front compared to those occupying the first half of the record.

Produced by GOSTEFFECTS, ‘Night Moves’ does what it says on the tin as its moody atmospheres take hold in the bedroom where secret desires can no longer be kept inside. The sultry ‘Love On A High Floor’ title song is mostly spoken word and adds acoustic guitar but perhaps lacks a groove, something that could also said about ‘Business Trip’ which comes over slightly sluggish in its reflection of the darker side of ambition and “the cost of doing business”.

Another that began life as a SELLOREKT / LA DREAMS instrumental titled ‘Before’, ‘Believe in You’ ventures into more AOR territory and could be HEART if axed up thanks to its rousing vulnerable vocal delivery. Closing with yet another redeveloped SELLOREKT / LA DREAMS instrumental, ‘Lovers’ closes and explores the deepest of yearnings in a desperate plea of hope for a love that is deeply desired. Also featuring Emma Ballantine and Darryn McHardie of THE LIGHTNING KIDS, the latter’s the guitar solo gets all ‘Purple Rain’.

Certainly the first half of ‘Love On A High Floor’ is a joy and amongst the drama in the world right now, that is much needed. But as this album’s intent is to see both the glitter and the cracks of love and life, this fantasy nostalgia presents a more realistic representation of this ‘Working Girl’ era than the neon-lit VHS grid lined DeLorean night drives that characterise other “retrowave” offerings.

‘Love On A High Floor’ is released by Aztec Records on 14th August 2026, available as a CD, vinyl LP, cassette and download from https://bunnyx.bandcamp.com/

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
5th August 2026

SPIKE Spike

30 July 2026 /

Spike is the synthpop project of Hannah McLoughlin.

Under her own name, she released an experimental electronic soundscape EP ‘The Tower’ in 2020 and was a regular performer at Cafe OTO. But adept at flute, EWI and synth, Spike plays more to her singer-songwriter instincts, influenced by leftfield artists such as Rose McDowall, Chris & Cosey and Frank Tovey.

Her self-titled debut long player embraces drowsy avant pop, angst-laden synth-punk and droning hauntology. The song that got Spike wider attention, her deadpan electronic cover of Warren Zevon’s ‘Werewolves Of London’ is included and its gothic reimagining effectively sets McLoughlin’s avant pop manifesto to deliver a brand of macabre disco dealing with the undead and the inhuman.

A sombre Italo-based number set around the hook of PET SHOP BOYS ‘Heart’ and a squelchy bass sequence, opening song ‘Disappear’ shouldn’t work on paper with McLoughlin’s anxious contralto, but it does and is a total pleasure. Following on, ‘Breaking The Wave’ is marvellous DIY synthpop with hooks galore while ‘Dying On The Vine’ takes the pace down for an emotive lament.

‘Unending’ references Ursula Le Guin’s Sci-Fi novel ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ and recalls BOOK OF LOVE in its rhythmic patterns as McLoughlin showcases her fragile vocal range over deeper rumbles. The melancholic Motorik rave of ‘Tiquetonne’ interpolates ‘Con Te Partiro’ aka ‘Time To Say Goodbye’ as made famous by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and again highlights the eclectic world of Spike.

The frenetic pace of ‘Event Horizon’ adds further tension to the despair in its black hole narrative and clears the air for the wonderful Sci-Fi moods of ‘Fortuna’, McLoughlin’s knowing tribute to synth pioneers Delia Derbyshire and Daphne Oram. Following the serene hymn of ‘No More’ that draws from the minimalist folk sensibilities of Vashti Bunyan and Sibylle Baier, the ‘Spike’ album closes with the glorious angelic oompah of ‘You’re Missing’ which sees our heroine emulate the sadly departed Trish Keenan of BROADCAST.

Short and sweet, this varied debut showcases Spike as a delightfully odd talent who provides a fresh playful take on electronic avant pop seeded by that uniquely British eccentricity. Vulnerable and visceral, despite the melancholic traits, this record is something of a joy!

‘Spike’ is released by Gob Nation as a vinyl LP and download, available from https://gobnation.bandcamp.com/album/spike

Spike plays The George Tavern, Stepney Green, London E1 0LA on Saturday 5th September 2026

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
30th July 2026

A THOUSAND MAD THINGS Hate It EP

24 June 2026 /

‘Cry & Dance’ by A THOUSAND MAD THINGS was undoubtedly the best body of work released in 2025.

The project of William Barradale, his style of dark synthpop explored themes of desire, shame and insecurities through his own personal experiences as a young gay man. With his haunted demeanour, his vocal delivery falls under the spectre of doomed romantics like Billy MacKenzie of ASSOCIATES.

Following a majestic debut headline show at London’s Paper Dress Vintage comes the new EP ‘Hate It’; William Barradale told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK: “Although all these songs were made at a similar time, EP2 has more energy in its production and tone. I picked the songs I felt had more to say for themselves to go second. ‘Cry & Dance’ was about establishing the project and EP2 feels more expressive and darker in tone. I have a whole concept about what it is to be a flawed person and each song represents a different part of that person (the thoughts, the feelings, the body, the needs etc). I wanted to hold back these songs for EP2 because I wanted to wait until I had some attention to share them. The sound is similar though and it’s a lot of the same synths and production style.”

Photo by Romy Caton-Jones

Still maintaining the sharp modern songwriting of its predecessor which eschews the longer intros and fades of Synth Britannia, the ‘Hate It’ EP begins with haunting gothic swing of ‘Promises’. Mournfully reflecting that “I’d never break the promises I chose to make that night”, it catches the bouncy rhythmic snap of THE CURE during their fantasy phase to exude an artful pop demeanour.

A cousin to ‘Wide Awake’ from ‘Cry & Dance’ in its literal cry, the hypnotic technopop of ‘Remorse’ asks the question “what did I do to hurt you?”. In a sign of the times, ‘Truth You Seek’ exudes a frustrated intensity that “this is my final vow”; built on a colder cacophony of synths, the engine room acts as the backbone to the seedier uncertain aspects of romantic yearning expressed in Barradale’s theatrical vocals.

The sombre bass driven drama of ‘Empty Part of Me’ sees Barradale note “how can you not hate the way they stare at you and me?” while displaying his lower and higher vocal registers before the ‘Hate It’ title song closes the EP with some dark disco dancing; singing of “ugly sin”, there are elements of SUICIDE as there was on ‘Girl’ on ‘Cry & Dance’ while there is also a Cold War drama lurking over proceedings.

Less immediate than ‘Cry & Dance’, the glorious darker overtones of ‘Hate It’ dig deeper and show that the debut was not a fluke. With yet-to-be released songs such as ‘Loving Was Easier’ and ‘Cracked Mirror’ outlining that there is more to come, A THOUSAND MAD THINGS is now the great hope for dark British synthpop. With promising acts like MIRRORS and EAST INDIA YOUTH unable to sustain their initial creative momentum, William Barradale is here to fill that void with his honest soulful celebration of all aspects of the human condition and chooses to be the better man!

The ‘Hate It’ EP is released by Nettwerk on 26th June 2026, available from https://athousandmadthings.bandcamp.com/

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
24th June 2026

THE MINDS There Are Two Truths

19 June 2026 /

When SIMPLE MINDS released the documentary ‘Everything Is Possible’ in 2023, it was an enjoyable 90 minutes that offered the historical perspective of front man Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill.

But it was notable for downplaying the roles of three former members Brian McGee (drums), Mick MacNeil (keyboards) and Derek Forbes (bass) who had been involved in the first four SIMPLE MINDS albums ‘Life In A Day’, ‘Reel To Real Cacophony’, ‘Empires & Dance’ and ‘Sons & Fascination / Sister Feelings Call’.

However the joint Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill memoir ‘Our Secrets Are The Same’ published in 2025 went further and laid claim to the pair writing most of the songs and that some band members were lucky to even get a cut of the publishing at all! But as Brian McGee declares: “whoever’s in the room writes the song, whoever starts from the beginning to the end of the song, records it, plays it, is part of the team, should be credited equally!”. Certainly in the way SIMPLE MINDS worked back then, music would be jammed and then structured as instrumentals before Kerr added words and vocals.

With a desire to speak their truth, reflect on the good times and give fans a special view on the conflicts at play, ‘There Are Two Truths’ is an independent documentary series exploring contested narratives. The first episode re-examines the history, conflicts and creative legacy of SIMPLE MINDS by those who were there.

As well as Brian McGee, Mick MacNeil and Derek Forbes, presenter and SIMPLE MINDS fan Ben Barclay also speaks to SIMPLE MINDS’ first manager Bruce Finlay, lawyer Robert White, former drummers Mike Olgletree and Mel Gaynor, original second guitarist Duncan Barnwell and The Blitz Club DJ Rusty Egan. He is not afraid to ask difficult questions about the decision making process within the band, particularly those associated with Jim Kerr who comes over as astute but having an agenda from the start.

Subtitled ‘Our Shares Are Not the Same’, the hour long exploration of authorship, credit and fairness does not pull any punches. From the moment that SIMPLE MINDS signed to Arista Records and released their debut album ‘Life In A Day’, there was contention. Songs were credited as being written by “Kerr / Burchill” but as Mick McNeil says: “It would be naïve to deny that the keyboard parts didn’t make that a pop song, it wasn’t the guitar… the contribution to the commercial aspect of ‘Chelsea Girl’ and even the track ‘Life In A Day’, I think they’re massively influenced by the keyboard parts that scream out commerciality…”! As Forbes adds rhetorically: “Did Charlie put in that keyboard part on ‘Chelsea Girl’? I mean that’s f*cking boll*cks innit?”

Lyric writing is often publically misinterpreted as “songwriting” with credit bias towards words. But as Elvis Costello recently said to MOJO about ‘Shipbuilding’ which he co-wrote with producer Clive Langer: “I get more credit for that song than I deserve because if it wasn’t for Clive’s melody, I wouldn’t have had anything to hang the story on.”

For the second album ‘Reel To Real Cacophony’ and beyond, the arrangement was changed to the songwriting credits being split equally between all five members of the band… or was it? The documentary reveals through past contractual paperwork that Jim Kerr was bagging 50% of the publishing as lyricist, even on the record’s three instrumentals! This was similar to the stunt that Ralf Hütter pulled on the KRAFTWERK tracks ‘Spacelab’ and ‘Metropolis’ from ‘The Man Machine’ by repeating the one word titles as vocals and claiming they were lyrics, thus diminishing Karl Bartos’ share! So that meant Burchill, MacNeil, Forbes and McGee were only getting 12.5%! However, as the albums including the follow-up sold poorly, the issue fell under the radar while the band signed to Virgin Records to achieve a breakthrough with the ‘Sons & Fascination / Sister Feelings Call’ double opus.

But McGee would leave in 1981, and then Forbes would be fired from SIMPLE MINDS with his contributions to 1985’s massive selling ‘Once Upon A Time’ being written out of the eventual publishing. MacNeil would leave in 1989 and over the following years, it was discovered that the retrospective share agreement percentages of Forbes and McGee were reduced even further form the original 12.5% while MacNeil’s went up to 20%. On that pre-1982 section of the back catalogue, Kerr and Burchill have evened up and are now on 30% each.

This documentary is made with a much lower budget so has nothing like the production values and locations seen in ‘Everything Is Possible’. But it is the content that matters although the AI generated moving images, particularly of past decades, may not be to everyone’s taste. Certainly ‘There Are Two Truths’ is eye opening and prompts more questions rather than making conclusions. While the angle is naturally based towards MacNeil, Forbes and McGee who have since reunited as THE MINDS, their points are backed by documentation and perspective. As Barclay closes his commentary, he remarks “Make of that as you will” and ultimately it is up to individual SIMPLE MINDS fans to decide what has gone on.

Just about every act be it KRAFTWERK, JAPAN, VISAGE, SPANDAU BALLET, THE SMITHS and many others have fallen foul on the issue of publishing. But it’s no coincidence that acts like U2, DURAN DURAN and COLDLAY have maintained harmony by agreeing to split everything equally from the start before they hit the big time. As the journalist and author Hunter S Thompson was once quoted as saying: “The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.”

With a future episode on ‘Arrivals & Departures’ on the way, ‘There Are Two Truths’ will not only appeal to long standing SIMPLE MINDS but anyone remotely interested in the often-unseen dynamics and perils of being in a band.

‘There Are Two Truths’ is available to view on YouTube

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
19th June 2026

NINA with RADIO WOLF Jukebox Dream Vol1

18 June 2026 /

A new journey begins for NINA and RADIO WOLF…

Collaboration is at the heart of both; NINA’s most recent releases were with Ricky Wilde and Kid Moxie while as RADIO WOLF, Oliver Blair’s portfolio includes work with Sarah Blackwood, Kelli Ali and a then-unknown Jorja Chalmers when they were members of the new wave trio HOTEL MOTEL.

Created, recorded, produced and mixed in a custom-built home studio in Berlin, NINA and RADIO WOLF aim to convey the darker aspects of romance on the first volume of their ‘Jukebox Dream’ double album. Opener ‘Don’t Trust The Night’ perhaps does too much stopping and starting to achieve momentum but the couple’s fiery first single ‘My Dark’ is a revelatory anti-love song about the dark side of relationships; NINA unveils her inner femme-fatale and on this enjoyable track is more provocative than she has ever been.

Mixing elements of THE CURE and COCTEAU TWINS, NINA’s voice is as exquisite as ever on ‘To See You’ but with all the ruggedness, listener can’t help but wonder what the finished article might have sounded like produced by Ricky Wilde. Another case in point is ‘The Ghosts Of Prom Night’ which could be a glorious synthwave power ballad but instead is realised musically as an overdriven indie number.

There’s a shady swung ‘Twin Peaks’ mood to ‘Galaxy Eyes’ while tape dragged synths and sparring guitar take ‘Cosmic Highway’ into hazier dreampop territory. Lo-fi indie aesthetics act as the backbone of ‘Lost In This Forever’ which comes over like NINA being backed by THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN. But following NINA and RADIO WOLF into a ‘Jukebox Dream’, this progressive title set piece gets lost in its wall of sound with the night vision goggles not providing any further clarity.

The darker moonlight escapades ‘Jukebox Dream Vol1’ add another string to NINA’s bow but whether the fans of “The Queen Of Synthwave” will embrace this alternative persona remains to be seen. With Vol1 offering a glimpse into this other world, it will be interesting to see where the nocturnal atmospheres stretch to on Vol2 which is expected to contain two previous singles ‘Tokyo Cowboy’ and ‘Bluesbreaker’.

‘Jukebox Dream Vol1’ is released by NewRetroWave in red or blue vinyl LP, CD, cassette and digital formats from https://newretrowave.bandcamp.com/album/jukebox-dream-vol-1

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
18th June 2026

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