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)
50 years from KRAFTWERK appearing on the BBC’s ‘Tomorrow’s World’ to perform ‘Autobahn’ and demonstrate the future of music, as Ralf Hütter remarked at the start of the 21st Century, “electro is everywhere” and can now be made on your mobile phone!
And while the KRAFTWERK brand continues to be fronted by the 79 year old Hütter with an extensive UK tour pencilled in next year, 2025 saw the sad passing of Synth Britannia heroes Dave Ball and Stephen Luscombe, while there was also the loss of COVENANT associate Andreas Catjar-Danielsson, NITZER EBB frontman Douglas J McCarthy and Gary Numan’s brother / former live band member John Webb. Outside of the genre, cult film director David Lynch, BLONDIE drummer Clem Burke, veteran diva Marianne Faithfull, The Prince Of Darkness Ozzy Osbourne and Head Beach Boy Brian Wilson were among those who left this mortal coil.
Among the new talent making a good impression were Spike, Shears and Hannah Hu who is currently working on her first album with Dean Honer of I MONSTER. Having already released a couple of albums, on the ascendancy was self-styled Californian “retro electro artist”Sophie Grey who was joined by Trevor Horn during her live cover of ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ while supporting Sting at the London Forum.
On the gentler side of electronics, Patricia Wolf and Loula Yorke came up with their fabulous respective instrumental offerings ‘Hrafnamynd’ and ‘Time Is A Succession Of Such Shapes’. There was also the return of LADYTRON as well as Alison Goldfrapp, Claudia Brücken and Kim Wilde. Going back to glitzy electropop on her new record ‘Mayhem’, Lady Gaga did an impression of Taylor Swift doing YAZOO on one of its highlights ‘How Bad Do U Want Me?’; meanwhile Taylor herself appeared to have turned into Los Angeles trio CANNONS on ‘The Fate Of Ophelia’, the synthy opening song of her 12th album ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’.
Photo by Oliver Blair
Swedish producer Johan Agebjörn proved to have one of the most prolific years in his music career with not only collaborations with R.MISSING on ‘Fakesnow’ and NINA on ‘Hush Hush Baby’ but also a new SALLY SHAPIRO album ‘Ready To Live A Lie’ and a solo long player ‘Southern Forest’; all this while holding down his day job as a psychotherapist! Another releasing two albums in 2025 was Paul Statham although one was a collection of archive recordings for what could have been the intended 1982 debut album by B-MOVIE entitled ‘Lost Treasures’; the other was a second record from his dark country project THE DARK FLOWERS featuring Jim Kerr of SIMPLE MINDS whose most recent single ‘Your Name In Lights’ had been co-written by Statham.
Impressively, SPARKS got ‘MAD!’ and then ‘MADDER!’ while undertaking a huge world tour with Ron Mael still tap dancing at 80 years of age during the drum solo of ‘No1 Song In Heaven’ and Russell Mael able to hit many of those high notes at 77. As ERASURE made a tentative return with a series of special UK fan club shows to celebrate their 40th anniversary, Andy Bell toured his solo album ‘Ten Crowns’ with KNIGHT$ not doing himself any harm being the opening act on the German leg ahead of a new album ‘Supernatural Lover’ out in early 2026.
After a few years of recorded absence, former TANGERINE DREAM members released long awaited albums with Peter Baumann from the classic line-up issuing the esoteric ‘Nightfall’ while Jerome Froese, son of co-founder Edgar, came up with the guitartronica of ‘Sunsets In Stereo’. Playing with the atonal atmospheres of early TANGERINE DREAM in places, the dark cerebral concept of ‘The Ray Bradbury Chronicles’ by Levente was worthy of investigation.
With their keyboard player Christian Berg now something of a modern day Rick Wakeman, KITE established themselves as a major world force with a spectacular show on ice at Stockholm’s Avicii Arena which saw special guest Nina Persson of THE CARDIGANS skating with the Helsinki Rockettes while singing their mighty collaboration ‘Heartless Places’.
Tom Shear released one of his most impressive and on-point albums as ASSEMBLAGE 23 in ‘Null’ while UNIFY SEPARATE didn’t mince their words on their ‘Heavy Meta’ EP. While Tobias Bernstrup kept the dark Italo flame alive with ‘Shadow Dancer’, Berlin continued to remain a force in underground club culture with two of its leading exponents Franz Scala and Kalipo presenting well-received long players that worked on the home hi-fi as well as on dancefloors. On the more poptronica front, Eddie Bengtsson finally stopped trying to “Numanise” his sound and came up with ‘Inget Motstånd’, a record in the more classic PAGE vein.
While synthwave appeared to be dead (as the controversial blog Iron Skullet declared in 2019), the influx of generic darkwave was a major blight on electronic music in 2025. The major label supported Mareux and his second album ‘Nonstop Romance’ had any potential painfully ruined by overused deliberate distortion to make it sound like it was recorded down a drainpipe.
Meanwhile PORCELAIN DANCER seemed to be the Rob Newman parody of Robert Smith as seen on ‘The Mary Whitehouse Experience’ resurrected only several octaves lower; his live performance provoked unintentional laughter from those who arrived early to see KORINE in London!
DEPECHE MODE released 4 songs that were originally deemed not good enough to put on their 2023 album ‘Memento Bori’ to append the live album accompanying their Mexico City concert film ‘M’. But 2025 was notable for a number of figures in the British DM fan community who were coming out with particularly repugnant far right views, seemingly oblivious to the decades of lyrical messages from the two remaining mixed race band members!
But there was hope in the darker side of synth with A THOUSAND MAD THINGS; with his haunted demeanour while navigating young manhood as a tortured outsider, William Barradale’s doomed romantic delivery reminiscent of Billy MacKenzie and Trevor Herion made him undoubtedly the most promising UK act since MIRRORS; his debut 5 song EP ‘Cry & Dance’ was one of 2025’s best bodies of work. This more than made up for ‘Dance Called Memory’, the extremely dull fourth album from NATION OF LANGUAGE which was anything but memorable…
After looking back at 1981, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK were pleased to be return to the variously compiled podcast ‘Back To NOW’ to discuss the ‘NOW 1982 Yearbook’ with genial host Iain McDermott and Ian Wade, author of ‘1984: The Year Pop Went Queer’. While general music and culture podcasts such as ‘Back To NOW’, ‘Word In Your Ear’, ‘The Rest Is Entertainment’, ‘The Rockonteurs’, ‘SoundPower’ and Miranda Sawyer’s new offering ‘Talk 90s To Me’ were highly engaging listens, specific broadcasts focussed on synth and electronic music were usually weak, suffering from poor hosting and ham-fisted background research. But when a professional presenter was involved, synth-oriented chats could be enlightening as the appearance of John Foxx on ‘The Adam Buxton Podcast’ proved, despite the annoying jingles that accompanied it.
Featuring commentary from PET SHOP BOYS’ Neil Tennant, the BBC’s retrospective look at the collapse of EMI called ‘Music Money & Mayhem’ showed once again that when those who know nothing about music get involved in the music business, it will end in tears. Looking at the story of the history of Beggars Banquet label in its first series and featuring Gary Numan in its opening episode, ‘States Of Independence’ documented how creative enthusiasm from the heart can actually thrive.
So where are the audiences for live electronic music these days? Certainly, if the full houses for Marie Davidson, Geneva Jacuzzi, Loscil and KITE in London’s club-sized venues were anything to go by, the crowds are out there. This was not the case for some other acts on the circuit at new, cult and one-hit wonder level who were struggling to get above half capacity or had downsized considerably since their perceived highest profile. However, new music night Release Me managed to get very good attendances for their evenings in 2025 with the premise that all acts must perform previously unreleased material; this focus on their events being about the music with announced requests to not talk during sets was a fresh and very welcome approach.
Photo by Tom Casey
Elsewhere, the retro business did prosper with reunions, exhibitions, summer hits shows, classic album tours, deluxe reissues of albums that were never that good in the first place and notable records re-released in yet another expanded set for the 5th or 6th time! There were those trying to exploit the fading nostalgia of those heady romantic times, writing memoirs that left out so many important facts omitted that there were grounds for inclusion in the “fiction” section.
Then there were others releasing overlong collections with an average track length of between 6-8 minutes that no-one asked for nor desired… filtering and editing is such an important aspect to producing music so there was no excuse for these veterans! Some even sent out unmastered music files to review outlets, blissfully unaware that the sound quality might actually be mentioned, only to get stupidly angry about it when highlighted due to their own numbskull promotional abilities; it’s a funny old entitled world…
The positive and negative of modern day music consumption is growth CAN happen organically in its own internet powered niche. But with the fragmentation of promotion with social media actually being a choice despite wider protestations, even the AXS newsletter listing the acts soon to be playing the 20,000 capacity O2 arena in London provoked cries of “WHO?”; but that is how it is now and it needs to be accepted. Why should a Boomer or Gen X-er know about the bright young thing headlining Glastonbury?
However, you CAN create your own musical universe today, not listen to radio, create your own playlists and exclude as appropriate. After all, as Nick Rhodes from DURAN DURAN once remarked: “Good taste is exclusive” – nobody should have to like what you like and neither should what somebody else likes appeal to you… niche interests are fine.
There is no doubt fandom has become more tribal and is now akin to away game support for football teams. But as a result, it has therefore got more toxic, with some fans getting ridiculously angry on socials about old less-than-positive reviews that David Hepworth, Mark Ellen, Ian Cranna, Dave Rimmer, Tom Hibbert or Neil Tennant might have written for Smash Hits 43 YEARS AGO!! “Bet he regrets that…” someone will quip smugly but the reality is, if there is a review that a writer will regret, from the experience of ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, it will usually be the one that is too gushing with praise!
The gist of Smash Hits during its imperial phase that coincided with Neil Tennant’s tenure as Assistant Editor was it was a magazine which treated “pop” as the most “important” thing in the world while simultaneously highlighting how “ridiculous” it was too, with references to “the dumper”, “summer colds” and the “tongue sarnie”… often dismissed as a “teen mag”, a good number of teenagers could see through the up-itself pretentions of the NME so relished the more amusing and knowing “scribblings” of the Smash Hits team!
The wider public forgets that it might likely have the benefit of 4 decades of hindsight as well as weekly if not daily plays of a record in the first few years of its possession. While it has always been associated with “free speech”, “opinion” or “freedom of expression”, one of the problems with social media is the narcissistic self-seeking of validation as part of the main character syndrome that afflicts many in this modern world…
U2 once asked “how long must we sing this song?”; so to end a divisive year where evil men with racist views have been casually normalised, the message outlined in 1981 by a trio of philosophers from South Yorkshire must continue to be repeated loud and clear: WE DON’T NEED THIS FASCIST GROOVE THANG! #FuckFarage #FuckReformUK #FuckTommyRobinson #FuckFlagshaggers #FuckTrump
Sometimes ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK does wonders what century it is living in?
One individual complained on social media that there were far too many women in ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 30 SONGS OF 2024 earlier this year; well they really are out of luck because this time round, only 8 out of the 30 songs listed are of an entirely male preserve as in 2025, the female side of synth was strong.
As in the past, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK continues to curate its end of year summary around songs rather than albums as the best representation of an annual period thanks to the long gestation periods of many albums and EPs. Although the last 12 months were plagued with generic darkwave to take the place of the insipid synthwave that was prevalent for a period, there were glimmers of creative hope in electronic pop.
While this year’s list was quite straightforward compile, worthy mentions must be given to NNHMN and SIN COS TAN as well as Zanias and Kalipo who all had tracks that just missed out on inclusion in the final list of 30. Available on the usual online platforms with a restriction of one song per artist moniker and placed in alphabetical order, for better or for worse, these are ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 30 SONGS OF 2025…
ASSEMBLAGE 23 The Line
With its on-point social commentary, ‘Null’ ranks among Tom Shear’s best albums as ASSEMBLAGE 23. Galloping mightily to ‘The Line’, a blend of dark electronic pop influences provide an album standout full of resigned drama when “it doesn’t matter anyway…”; reflecting on political polarisation affecting friendships, he said “you have to evaluate whether you want to keep these people in your life or do you really need to let them go…”
Available on the ASSEMBLAGE 23 album ‘Null’ via Metropolis Records
Back as AUSTRA, ‘Chin Up Buttercup’ was a cathartic record capturing the aftermath of Katie Stelmanis’ break-up with her long-term partner. Like a discontented ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’, the superb ‘Math Equation’ sees a sad but dancey syncopated dance tune with frank observations of navigating modern dating. “You said I needed my own friends and then you f*cked them” she despaired as elegiac synths mourn the end.
Swedish dark Italo artist Tobias Bernstrup is back with his seventh studio album ‘Shadow Dancer’. According to Bernstrup, it “explores the tension between appearance and reality—how we perform identity, desire, and memory in a world flooded with simulation”. On ‘Under Heavy Strobe Light’, the beats pump harder and the voice is deeper but as the title suggests, this throbbing excursion is made for “creatures of the night” who love the dancefloor.
Available on the TOBIAS BERNSTRUP album ‘Shadow Dancer’ via Nadanna Records
Although CAUSEWAY maintained their cinematic dreamwave sound on the ‘Anywhere’ album, its title track was a key statement that went all Motorik and minimal with the guitar of Dale Hiscock from ENDLESS ATLAS contributing the West Coast meets Düsseldorf flavour. Eschewing the density of most of the tracks on the album, the duo’s Marshall Watson said “To me it feels very ‘out of the box’ for CAUSEWAY but it fits in our universe”.
Available on the CAUSEWAY album ‘Anywhere’ is released by Sprechen Music
‘Night Mirror’ saw Claudia Brücken back working with John Williams who produced her third solo album ‘Where Else…’; with her characteristic ice maiden cool, the brilliant ‘Shadow Dancer’ turned the album on its head with an uptempo electronically driven number with minimal rhythm guitar and piano sparring off the synthetic stabs and metronomic rhythms. Here Claudia’s assuring poetry was supreme in this divine slice of avant pop.
Available on the CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN album ‘Night Mirror’ via Demon Music Group
Through circumstance and by choice, Ulrika Mild is perhaps one of the best kept secrets in Swedish electronic pop. Under her alias of COMPUTE, she says “I’m just a girl standing in front of a machine asking it to go ‘bleep bloop’…” but there was a darker if still melodic presence on her ‘NKI’ EP. Its opening song ‘Närmare’ was a feisty club friendly track that acted as an observation about the world problems that threaten human existence.
Co-written and co-produced with SOULWAX, ‘City Of Clowns’ was the first album from Marie Davidson in over 4 years. More English than French but also more song-based, she had some ‘Fun Times’ on a spiky vibrant number about not having children and challenging the now-prevalent far right view that a woman’s only meaningful role in society is reproducing… why bother with all that when her babies can be her art and her fun?
Available on the MARIE DAVIDSON album ‘City Of Clowns’ via DEEWEE
From out of the shadows to under the strobe lights, DIE SEXUAL are the erotically charged Los Angeles-based duo of Anton Floriano and his wife Ros. DIE SEXUAL’s dark electronic influences examine themes of domination and submission. The cut and thrust of ‘Magic Never Dies’ provided another throbbing banger for the alternative dancefloor to enable responsible misbehaviour and to dance like nobody’s watching.
For the second DINA SUMMER album, there was a natural progression from the previous EP ‘Hide & Seek’, playing on its darker but still club friendly aesthetics. Straddling the worlds of electronic disco and alternative rock, ‘Disco Goth’ heads to the dancefloor as frantic throbbing electronics is accompanied commentary on how to get that look. There is an energetic thrill that comes from the decadent dance and being in the ‘Girls Gang’.
Available on the DINA SUMMER album ‘Girls Gang’ via Iptamenos Discos
Playing with the physics of sound while exploring a variety of introspective themes, exiled Belarusian trio DLINA VOLNY understandably now sound heavier than they ever have before, but have retained their all-important melodic contrasts to counter any possibilities of proceedings becoming too dirgey. Playing on their post-punk sensibilities, the exuberant if still sombre ‘Chant’ imagines Siouxsie gone Motorik…
Available on the DLINA VOLNY album ‘In Between’ via Italians Do It Better
As EMMON, Emma Nylen has evolved since her 2007 indie synthpop debut ‘The Art & The Evil’ into a more rugged EBM inclined direction as captured on the mighty ‘Blood On The Ceiling’, her collaboration with subarctic urban industrial artist MAJESTOLUXE. Suitably dark and complimented by chilling, mass murderer-themed lyrics, its hypnotic sonic carousel was inspired by German electropunk pioneers LIAISONS DANGEREUSES.
The musical vehicle of LA-based New Yorker Florence Bullock, following the release of her debut EP ‘Short Stories’ in 2017, she went on to collaborate with BETAMAXX on ‘Skyhigh’ in 2019 before her most recent EP ‘Glass & Steel’ in 2021. ‘Bury The Sky’ is the first GLITBITER song in quite a few years and imagines a “girl on a mountain” in this delightful slice of fantasy futurism and fascinating rhythms that are fast if not furious.
With the 20th Anniversary of ‘Supernature’, it seemed appropriate after the HI-NRG stomp of her debut ’The Love Invention’ that the new Alison Goldfrapp solo album would recall some of the serene avant pop that characterised that record. Co-produced by Stefan Storm of THE SOUND OF ARROWS, ‘Hey Hi Hello’ was exuberant but bittersweet pop and less full on, written during a period when she became single for the first time in years.
Available on the ALISON GOLDFRAPP album ‘Flux’ via AG Records
A cover of American singer-songwriter Bill Dess, best known as Two Feet, the Italian pairing of Erika Grapes and Eugenio Valente acknowledged that ‘Love Is A Bitch’ in this slo-mo reworking of a modern blues number about how blindfolded love cam lead to a trail of toxic events. Seen through a twisted industrial lens in the wake of a heavy relationship breakup, the sub-bass tension and keyboard motifs exuded a glorious cinematic gothique.
Self-producing for the first time, Mari Kattman decided it was the ‘Year Of The Katt’; what is now on offer is a collection of mostly catchy electronic songs with crossover potential for the dance floor. This was exemplified by this pumping industrial pop anthem where in a protest song against female stereotyping, our heroine rebels against cast being seen as “a difficult person” and a ‘Typical Girl’ to question “who’s gonna love you now…”
Available on the MARI KATTMAN album ‘Year Of The Katt’ via Metropolis Records
Now fully able to explore their position as the world’s leading dark synth duo, Nicklas Stenemo and Christian Berg pushed presentation boundaries during the KITE On Ice spectacular at Stockholm’s Avicii stadium. Featuring Nina Persson of THE CARDIGANS, the rumbling ‘Heartless Places’ utilised sinister vocal pitch shifts to capture a bleakness where a world of “hollow faces” are now “caught between hell and loneliness”.
The ‘Mayhem’ album saw Lady Gaga her return to the glitzy electropop with which she found ‘The Fame’. With its array of classic influences, a Siouxsie interpolation figured on ‘Abracadabra’ while ‘Killah’ crossed DAF with Prince! But on ‘How Bad Do U Want Me?’, the diva born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta used a sample from ‘Only You’ by YAZOO and paid homage to Taylor Swift’s CHVRCHES inspired synthpop tunes!
Available on the LADY GAGA album ‘Mayhem’ via Interscope
With LADYTRON now slimmed down to a trio of Helen Marnie, Daniel Hunt and Mira Aroyo following the departure of co-founder member Reuben Wu, the great new first single from the reconfigured line-up has been described as “high-priestess disco”. ‘I Believe In You’ certainly possesses an infectious house groove previously not heard from LADYTRON while still undoubtedly recognisable as them as they head to dancier climes.
Following up her 2020 long playing debut ‘acts of rebellion’, Colombian artist and producer Ela Minus presented ‘DIA’, an album about becoming. Having been weaned on FUGAZI and played in hardcore punk bands, she gradually drifted towards synthesizers as they allowed her to work alone and more swiftly. The thumping thrill of ‘Onwards’ did battle with drops galore while tuning signals acted as the hooks.
Available on the ELA MINUS album ‘DIA’ via Domino Recordings
After a period of Numanisation across the last three PAGE albums with mixed results, Eddie Bengtsson and Marina Schiptjenko totally dialled down the Numan elements on the ‘Inget Motstånd’ album. The opening lead single ‘Kan Inte Tänka På Allt’ provided a good start, featuring incessant drum machine and an enticing cacophony of electronics to revisit the punkier poptronica ethos of the PAGE of old in its energetic pace.
What a 2025 Dubliner Brian O’Malley has had… not only did two thrillers ‘Nine Bodies In A Mexican Morgue’ and ‘Frauds’, which he directed 3 episode of each, both air on UK terrestrial television, he also returned to his solo electronica adventure PolyDROID with two new recordings; one was a vocoder-laden cover of ‘The Sound Of Silence’ but the other was ‘Six Of One’, an original instrumental inspired by Number Six from ‘The Prisoner’.
With a deep bass and hypnotic loop attached to an Italo disco beat, the ever prolific Swedish producer Johan Agebjörn felt having mixed one of their tracks ‘Verónica Pass’ under the SALLY SHAPIRO banner back in 2022, that ‘Fakesnow’ would suit the vocal approach of the enigmatic New York darklings R. MISSING. The combination was a chilling match made in heaven. “Sharon Shy really turned it into a great song” Agebjörn said, “I’m really happy about it”.
RUTH RADELET, NAT WALKER & ADAM MILLER The Wild Unknown
A three quarters reunion of CHROMATICS saw Ruth Radelet, Nat Walker and Adam Miller record 4 tracks for a teenage adventure game soundtrack that revisited the dreamy synth and guitar sound that characterised songs such as ‘Shadow’ and resonated with the game’s Super 8 aesthetics. Complimented by Radelet’s forlorn vocals, ‘The Wild Unknown’ presented an ethereal soundscape punctuated by a glorious synthesizer solo to close.
Despite being said to be the darkest album of their career, ‘Ready To Live A Lie’, the fifth album from Swedish duo SALLY SHAPIRO paradoxically comes as a rather uplifting listening experience in its relatable themes. The marvellous ‘Guarding Shell’ though explores post-relationship trust issues while Johan Agebjörn drops in the same D-50 preset used on OMD’s ‘Big Town’ in the intro before hitting classic wispy Sally mode.
Following their rapturously received album ‘MAD!’ and its accompanying world tour, SPARKS got even ‘MADDER’ with their first ever EP. Throwing synths, glam and brass into the mix, ‘Porcupine’ appears to refer to a spiky woman who is “Not your cuddly kind” so “Save your Valentine”. Rather appropriately, the accompanying video shows British popster Self Esteem in bunny boiler mode running over The Mael Brothers in a excavator!
Available on the SPARKS EP ‘MADDER!’ via Transgressive
Spike is the nom de théâtre of London-based singer-songwriter Hannah McLoughlin who delivers a brand of macabre disco dealing with the undead and the inhuman. Having impressed with a deadpan electronic cover of Warren Zevon’s ‘Werewolves Of London’, the melancholic Motorik rave of ‘Tiquetonne’ delightfully interpolated ‘Con Te Partiro’ aka ‘Time To Say Goodbye’ as made famous by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.
A member of Swedish trio CRED who issued their debut single ‘Every Loss’ in 2022, ‘I Die For This Love’ was Bjarne Johansson Sund’s first solo effort. Teaming up with James Knights on vocals for this captivating Europop tune, a chunky bassline, icy strings and orchestra stabs complimented this emotive tale of yearning. The public response was so positive that the song now finds a place on the second KNIGHT$ album out in 2026.
Available on the forthcoming KNIGHT$ album ‘Supernatural Lover’ via Specchio Uomo
Marrying the pleasure with the pain, A THOUSAND MAD THINGS is the solo synth artist William Barradale. Finding solace in untempered expression, his debut EP ‘Cry & Dance’ was one of the best releases of 2025. With his haunted demeanour and navigating young manhood as a tortured outsider, ‘Local Guys’ was embroiled in tension, showcasing his emotional range as he reflected on the violent turns of former acquaintances.
Available on the A THOUSAND MAD THINGS EP ‘Cry & Dance’ via Nettwerk
In an increasingly dystopian world where the two biggest nuclear nations are being led by unhinged egomaniacs, the Scottish-Swedish duo of Andrew Montgomery and Leo Josefsson provided their “sanity clause” as UNIFY SEPARATE confronted an existential crisis that was more than about midlife. Swathed in rhythmically swung anguish like an electro-industrial MUSE, ‘Slow Armageddon’ was their most political and timely song yet.
Icelandic for “raven film”,Patricia Wolf composed the soundtrack for ‘Hrafnamynd’, an unconventional nature documentary by director Edward Pack Davee looking back on his childhood living in Iceland. Largely created using the UDO Super 6 binaural analog-hybrid synthesizer, it enabled Wolf to sound modern while also giving the emotive fuzzy tones heard on the album opener ‘Early Memories’ to correspond with the film’s nostalgic narrative.
Available on the PATRICIA WOLF album ‘Hrafnamynd’ via Balmat
With one album ‘Dollars & Cents’ to his name, KNIGHT$ is the electrifying solo venture of James Knights.
He built his reputation with cult favourites SCARLET SOHO and also serves as one half of the current incarnation of BOYTRONIC with original front man Holger Wobker. Known as a charming but frenetic live performer who combines classic Italo, HI-NRG, synthpop and new wave like a fine flavour of gelato, KNIGHT$ has opened for DRAB MAJESTY, A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS, CHINA CRISIS and most recently Andy Bell of ERASURE, as well as headlining his own shows across Europe.
The start of 2026 sees the release of the second KNIGHT$ album ‘Supernatural Lover’; featuring the title song which was released as a single earlier in the year and ‘I Die For This Love’ (a collaboration with Bjarne Sund), there is also a cover of YAZOO’s ‘Goodbye 70s’ as well as five other new tracks, several of them venturing into previously uncharted territory for our shades donning hero.
An intimate document of struggle and survival, obsession and loss, turbulence and change, set mostly to uptempo dance rhythms, England’s very own “Disco Rampensau” chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about the making of ‘Supernatural Lover’.
How was the Andy Bell tour in Germany? How did his audience respond to you?
It was an incredible experience — so many great memories and new faces in the crowd singing along.
Did you have an idea of what you were trying to achieve with this second album? How was the writing and production process?
My first album, ‘Dollars & Cents’, was pure instinct — no expectations, and no real pressure after SCARLET SOHO ended. The second one came from a different place entirely. I’d lived more, and I knew some of that was going to surface in the writing whether I wanted it to or not. It’s a darker record, but I still wanted it to sound like KNIGHT$ — not weighed down by the themes.
While I was writing, I started revisiting albums I hadn’t played in a while — ‘Join Hands’ by SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES, ‘Secondhand Daylight’ by MAGAZINE — and then switching gears completely with THE ROCK STEADY CREW. That weird mix of moods and energy ended up shaping the album in unexpected ways. I probably overthought things at times — reworking vocals, tweaking mixes, questioning small details — but that focus helped me get closer to what I was really trying to do.
While side one is co-produced by your regular collaborator Martin Dubka, the second half features a whole side of outliers where you take some risks?
I saw side two as a chance to experiment a bit and step outside my usual setup. 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. It’s more exploratory for sure, and in some ways, it hints at where things might head next.
You opted not to include songs from the previously issued ‘$auna Mu$ik’ EP or ‘Boom Bang Boom!’?
At first, I thought some of the ‘$auna Mu$ik’ and ‘Boom Bang Boom!’ tracks might make the cut, but as the album came together, I realised they didn’t quite fit the mood. That said, a few of them will appear as bonus tracks on the CD version, so fans will still get to hear them there.
On the opening song ‘Knightmares’, you adapted your vocal style slightly, how did it come about?
I hadn’t really noticed at the time, but it turns out I don’t have many songs in A minor. Singing in that key brought out a part of my voice I hadn’t explored much before, which gave the track a slightly different feel.
You channel your inner Patrick Cowley on the ‘Supernatural Lover’ title song, what was its genesis?
I always imagined the live show having a moment of pure euphoria, and this song became that. Lyrically, I’m drawn to the things we can’t fully grasp spiritually, and touching even a fraction of that feels incredibly powerful. Getting older has made me appreciate the idea that we’re part of something bigger — that there’s a connection beyond just ourselves.
You enter New York electro territory on ‘Bite The Nite’?
I’d been wanting to try a freestyle-style track for a while, and it’s definitely trickier than it seems. ‘Bite The Nite’ went through a lot of different versions before we landed on the final arrangement and vocal melody. We played it live in London recently, and it really came alive — it sounded massive!
‘Light The Fuse’ goes full Europop, were there any key influences on this?
For a while, I’d been hooked on ‘Pretty Face’ by the Italian band STYLOO, and I wanted ‘Light The Fuse’ to have that relentless, no-nonsense rhythm section that just keeps driving forward, similar to what they did. It wasn’t planned, but listening back now, I notice some held vocal notes in the chorus that oddly remind me of ELO. or even ‘Ulysses’, the 80s kids’ TV show theme — I’m not exactly sure why! Martin also filtered the synths in a way that echoes ALPHAVILLE’s ‘Forever Young’, which was his idea, and it really added to that Europop vibe.
There’s a HI-NRG cover of YAZOO’s ‘Goodbye 70s’, why did you choose to do this?
Growing up, my mum and I used to blast YAZOO in the car, so revisiting those songs is a nostalgic joyride. The idea for this HI-NRG take came from Gary Daly of CHINA CRISIS — he told me on tour in Derby that I sounded a bit like Alison Moyet, and it stuck with me. I worked with Swedish producer RetroTeque for this one-off version, and it brings a dynamic to the record.
‘I Die For This Love’ was not written by you and is a guest appearance on a solo track by Bjarne Sund of CRED, how did this come about and end up on the album?
Bjarne is a fantastic writer, and this experience reminded me that no matter how much you plan, you have to stay open to change when making an album. ‘I Die For This Love’ was released early in 2025, and the public’s response convinced me it deserved a place on the record. Once I found a natural spot for it, including it was a no-brainer.
‘DGD’ is very unusual, it’s sort of an experimental spoken word dance piece, so how did you get the idea?
Earlier this year, I got a Korg Prologue 8 and started experimenting with its arpeggiators. Tweaking a few things, I landed on a DAF-esque pulse that became the foundation for ‘DGD’. It gave me a solid sonic platform to explore something I’d been noticing lately — so-called politically left-leaning people casting judgment on others and wishing them harm, almost sounding right-wing all of a sudden. I found this deeply unnerving, and the track became my way of processing that.
Some will be surprised at the piano ballad ‘Can’t Cry Any Longer’ which closes the album?
Every batch of songs I write usually has one or two slower ideas, but I’m more drawn to tracks with pace, so I avoid crowding an album with too many slow songs. ‘Can’t Cry Any Longer’ was the perfect way to close this record — a softer moment that balances all the energy leading up to it.
The album is short and sharp, you’ve not stuffed it with 18 overlong tracks like some people have done, how do you sum up its making?
The idea was to keep it tight and meaningful — no filler, no overlong tracks. Each song has its own purpose, and together they make a record that’s concise but still rich in ideas.
What are your hopes and fears for the album?
The public will decide which songs endure, but I’m happy with what I’ve created. I see this album as a perfect bridge between the first record and what’s coming next.
What is next for you?
Next up is a tour of Germany in January with six headline shows in Berlin, Bochum, Leipzig, Erfurt, Frankfurt and Hamburg, followed by a one-off Paris date on February 12th. I’m sure there will be a London show in the spring, maybe some festivals, definitely a remixed version of the new album. Look out for my Andy Bell remix on ‘The Crown Jewels’ release on the 12th of December too!
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its special thanks to James Knights
The album ‘Supernatural Lover’ is released by Specchio Uomo on 5th February 2025 as a vinyl LP, CD and digital release, pre-order now from https://knights101.bandcamp.com/
KNIGHT$ opens for THEN JERICO at Oxford O2 Academy on 19th December 2025
European live dates at the start of 2026 include: Rüsselsheim Das Rind (23rd January – with DELTA KOMPLEX), Erfurt Stadtgarten (24th January – with DJ set from Marcus Meyn from CAMOUFLAGE), Hamburg Maria’s Ballroom (30th January – with IN CONTACT), Berlin DarkNights Festival (31st January – with BLUTENGEL, SOLAR FAKE, EISFABRIK + many more), Paris Atomic Cat (12th February), Leverkusen Shadow (20th February), Leipzig Darkflower (21st February)
Fresh from dazzling thousands of dancing Goths at Wave-Gotik-Treffen, KNIGHT$ brought their Hi-NRG act to London for an intimate show. Celebrating five years since the release of the debut KNIGHT$ album, ‘Dollars & Cents’, the crowd were treated to a play-through with bonus cover songs.
Hi-NRG and its Italo Disco relatives have fallen out of fashion since their peaks in the 1980s, which is a pity. PET SHOP BOYS, TRANS-X, Divine, Lime and Sabrina created evergreen party tracks around the 136 BPM sweet spot, but the style loved by aerobics instructors and visitors to Fire Island eventually made way for trance and techno. That’s progress, but the joy of octave basslines, synthesised hooks, and glorious pop vocals transcends the trend time-line.
The evening began with a rare live set from Steven Jones and Logan Sky. The duo were brought together through the intercession of Steve Strange, and their cinematic pop is inspired by his legacy. Their opening song, ‘Polaroids,’ is a direct reference to the Visage front-man’s way of looking at the world. Things quickly moved darker with the danceable ‘Black B-Sides,’ which called to mind early PSYCHE.
‘Rotating Angels’ and ‘Lovers & Losers’ reinforced the compelling darkwave touches they are capable of. ‘Come Back Tonight’ demonstrated why good songs matter more than cult followings of granny-aged groupies. Despite their lack of live practice, Jones and Sky are bounds ahead of many of the acts who insert themselves into tour programmes or fill out festival line-ups. They even write the songs they perform.
James Knights’ ability to bring out the soul in his voice certainly adds to the appeal of a KNIGHT$ show. Throughout the night, there were moments of raw power that required checks to ensure that Martha Walsh or Evelyn Thomas hadn’t taken his place. Working the crowd into a tizzy with songs like ‘What’s Your Poison?’ and ‘Alligator,’ his affection for the genre was impressed into the show.
The inclusion of the PET SHOP BOYS’ ‘Heart’ and YAZOO’s ‘Goodbye 70s’ gave an appreciative nod to the giants of dance music from the days before “EDM” was something sold by Live Nation to frat boys.
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