Category: Reviews (Page 2 of 205)

IAMX Artificial Innocence

21 February 2026 /

Having thought about England before moving to Berlin and then relocating to Los Angeles, Chris Corner continues his unconventional creative public therapy as he embarks on another European tour as IAMX.

Following up 2025’s ‘Fault Lines²’ jaunt, IAMX will embark on the ‘Artificial Innocence’ tour with the title song now released to streaming platforms having originally been part of the tour-exclusive 4 track CD and vinyl EP ‘UNMASK’. It marks a transition towards Corner’s next chapter and his darker alternative electronic sounds.

With an exhilarating array of modular pulses acting as the backbone and penetrated by Corner’s signature soaring vocals, the ‘Artificial Innocence’ title plays on the term “AI”. Reflecting lyrically on submission, control and emotional emptiness in a number that is heavy yet also fragile, at the end Corner confesses “I have extraordinary needs!”

Evoking Corner’s DIY art punk spirit, ‘Artificial Innocence’ has a stark monochromatic video accompaniment made using an iPhone, transforming it from effectively a B-side into a tense darkwave anthem that stands as its own starring statement in varying shades of grey.

Filmed in the Southern California desert, it sees contortionist and performer Katy Mikelle with Corner on a journey that is sensual, visceral and intense in its deviant sexual hedonism with a series of fast cut cinematic lovebites.

‘Artificial Innocence’ is released on all the usual online platforms

IAMX 2026 live dates include:

Leipzig EoNLY Festival (14th March), Gdansk Parlament (16th March), Budapest Dürer Kert (18th March), Bucharest Control Club (20nd March), Belgrade Dorcól Platz (21st March), Zagreb Močvara (22nd March), Ljubljana Orto Bar (24th March), Milan Legend Club (25th March), Bratislava Trnko (27th March), Krems Stadtsaal (28th March), Eindhoven Effenaar (31st March), Cologne Die Kantine (1st April), Zurich Der Schwarze Ball (3rd April), Mannheim MS Connexion (4th April), Hildesheim M’era Luna (8th–9th August), Manchester Infest (21st–23rd August), Oberhausen UNITY Festival (18th–19th September), Berlin UNITY Festival (2nd–3rd October)

https://iamxmusic.com/

http://www.facebook.com/IAMXOFFICIAL

https://www.instagram.com/iamx/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
21st February 2026

FIAT LUX Desire & Belief

5 February 2026 /

It seems strange to think that despite releasing their debut single at the end of 1982, there were there were no FIAT LUX albums before 2019.

That single ‘Feels Like Winter Again’ was produced by Bill Nelson and led to a deal with Polydor and his brother Ian joining the founding FIAT LUX nucleus of lead singer Steve Wright and multi-instrumentalist David P Crickmore. There was a six song ‘Hired History’ EP in 1984, but the lack of a hit single saw their intended debut album ‘Ark Of Embers’ short-sightedly shelved by Polydor in 1985.

Ian Nelson sadly passed away in 2006 but Wright and Crickmore returned as FIAT LUX in 2017. Since then, not only were ‘Hired History’ and the previously unreleased ‘Ark Of Embers’ given the Cherry Red treatment and made available in 2019 but there have been two FIAT LUX albums ‘Saved Symmetry’ and ‘Twisted Culture’; both comprised of completely new 21st Century material with Will Howard taking over from the late Ian Nelson as the third FIAT LUX member on sax and woodwinds.

FIAT LUX have returned with ‘Desire & Belief’, their first long player since 2021 and its artwork ably captures the chilly windswept Northern English atmospheres of this album. It begins with the dusky ambience of ‘Summer Solstice’ but as “my world is changing”, ‘Spirit Of The Age’ is spritely yet filled with anxiety. ‘Am I Dreaming’ asks Wright as FIAT LUX enter into a droning darker place that is shaped by a haunting drum manta.

‘Clear Sky’ romps with a jagged synth attack before sax and a guitar solo enter “a space that comforts you”, but there’s a slight air of PINK FLOYD’s ‘Comfortably Numb’ in the structure of ‘I Never Explode’ before journeying into the deep shady moods of ‘Shallow Hollow Souls’. The ‘Desire & Belief’ title song adds percussive tension but after all that, ‘Turn Me Around’ bursts in with some bouncy synth-brassy synthpop.

With a pulsing electronic backbone, ‘Winter Solstice’ must be the first pop song about Seasonal Affective Disorder and is highly relatable, especially with Wright’s emotive Scott Walker tones. To close, ‘All The Stars Have Died’ is a spoken word art piece that mildy gets funky with screeching sax and jazzy breaks.

With its moody disposition and cinematic atmospheres offset by the occasional slice of accessible synthpop, ‘Desire & Belief’ will satisfy those who have enjoyed the work of FIAT LUX since their 21st Century return.

‘Desire & Belief’ is released on 6th February 2026 as a red vinyl LP and CD by Nine X Nine Records

http://www.fiat-lux.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/Fiatluxofficial

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
5th February 2026

KNIGHT$ Supernatural Lover

2 February 2026 /

KNIGHT$ has been called “an animated Andrew Eldritch fronting FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD” although ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK thinks more Richard Butler fronting PET SHOP BOYS to sum up his look.

His energetic pulsing electronic style has been perfect for the live arena and the often immediate rapport he builds with new audiences that then quickly switches into a frenzy makes him a perfect opening act, as those who arrived early on Andy Bell’s German tour found out in a pounding pairing with had so much disco potential.

KNIGHT$ is the project of James Knights, previously of SCARLET SOHO. Since going solo, he has been making waves throughout Europe with his sparkling Gelato flavoured Britalo which debuted in long playing form with 2019’s ‘Dollars & Cents’. After a standalone single ‘Boom Bang Boom!’ and an EP ‘$auna Mu$ik’, as 2026 begins, the follow-up long player ‘Supernatural Lover’ is finally here and captures a period of turbulence and change.

But the opening salvo ‘Knightmares’ is business as usual and produced with regular studio partner Martin Dubka. However, those listening closely will clock a slightly different vocal approach thanks to the song being set in A minor. Following on, the ‘Supernatural Lover’ title song is a moment of pure euphoria where KNIGHT$ channels his inner Patrick Cowley; a danceable delight saucily “custom built with velocity”, it is a throbbing Hi-NRG ditty that will delight fans of DEAD OR ALIVE, BRONSKI BEAT and BOYTRONIC to tell the story of a paranormal love encounter where our hero exclaims “you gave me the fright of my life”!

‘Bite The Nite’ goes all classic New York freestyle in a delightful glance across the Atlantic but ‘Light The Fuse’ heads back to Europe with a no-nonsense rhythm section and filtered synths, crossing Italian band STYLOO with Germany’s ALPHAVILLE to fully propel that rousing Europop vibe.

Although the first half of the album has been co-produced by Martin Dubka, the second half features a bunch of outliers which shows our hero is prepared to take a few risks. First here’s a HI-NRG cover of YAZOO’s ‘Goodbye 70s’, produced and mixed by RETROTEQUE which works well before ‘I Die for This Love’, a song written and produced by Bjarne Johansson Sund of the Swedish synthpop trio CRED that provides an emotive tale of yearning shaped by a chunky bassline, icy strings and orchestra stabs.

Throwing the scent off further, ‘D.G.D’ is an unusual collage set piece shaped by arpeggiators from a Korg Prologue 8 to provide an unnerving DAF-esque pulse with the stark political message that “Deutschland’s getting darker”. This is something very unlike anything KNIGHT$ has done before, especially in its deep stoic vocal delivery. Self-referencing himself as “Mister Survivor”, a final surprise comes with ‘Can’t Cry Any Longer’ where James Knights explores his inner George Michael accompanied by Mike Gilham on piano to balance all the energy before it.

A record showing different voices sides of KNIGHT$, ‘Supernatural Lover’ is an intimate document of struggle and survival, obsession and loss set mostly to uptempo dance rhythms that is a worthy follow-up to ‘Dollars & Cents’.

“I saw ‘side two’ as a chance to experiment a bit and step outside my usual setup” said James Knights to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, “Working with Martin Dubka on ‘side one’ gave the record its core identity, but I wanted the flip side to feel looser — a space to try new ideas and collaborate with different people.”

Short and sharp to keep proceedings tight and meaningful with each song maintaining its own purpose, KNIGHT$ could head in any number of directions for album number three but for now, he is maintaining his friendships while making some brand new ones.

‘Supernatural Lover’ is released by Specchio Uomo on 5th February 2026 as a vinyl LP and digital release, CD includes bonus songs ‘What Planet Did You Come From? (Baby)’, ‘Hi-NRG Crisis’, ‘Hit That Perfect Beat’ and ‘Boom Bang Boom!’ – pre-order from https://knights101.bandcamp.com/

KNIGHT$ 2026 European live dates include:

Paris Atomic Cat (12th February), Leverkusen Shadow (20th February), Leipzig Darkflower (21st February), London Aces & Eights (29th May), Munich Milla (31st May – with TRANS-X)

http://knights101.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Knights101/

https://www.instagram.com/knights101/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
2nd February 2026

AVRO Psychopathé

16 January 2026 /

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.

‘Psychopathé’ is released by Warranty:Void Records and available from https://avro.bandcamp.com/

https://avromusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/thisisavro

https://www.instagram.com/avromusic/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
16th January 2026

A THOUSAND MAD THINGS Promises

9 January 2026 /

Photo by Romy Caton-Jones

‘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.

‘Promises’ released under licence via Nettwerk Music Group and available on the usual online platforms including https://athousandmadthings.bandcamp.com/

https://athousandmadthings.ffm.to/bio

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

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

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

Text by Chi Ming Lai
9th January 2026

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