Dark pop / pagan synth duo, Esoterik have unveiled their new full-length LP, 'Alchemy.'
The concept of Alchemy has many different forms and interpretations but the analogy holds true for any artist in that we take elements or ingredients, which on their own have a certain character and then take on a transformation into something that didn’t exist before.
Is it magick or is something more tangible? Who’s to say? But there’s no denying that words have power and music in itself has the ability to illicit a variety of emotions that time stamp our journey throughout life.
About the album, 'Alchemy', the band says the following, "We took a different approach with this album than we have in the past with a clear vision from the start thematically of what we wanted to achieve and then crafted each track around that."
'Alchemy' is available on CD at https://www.esoterikmusic.com and digitally on Apple Music.
"When we begin writing new songs for an album they take shape in a variety of forms, but it’s important to us and we’ve also found it makes things much easier when we start to record, to ensure the foundation and structure is solid and flows well from melody to composition. A lot of these songs are written on an acoustic guitar and sound very different from the arrangements you hear now. We feel that once a song can stand on its own without all the bells and whistles, it can be guided into any genre with subtle tweaks here and there." - Allison Eckfeldt and Brady Bledsoe (Esoterik)
Today 16 years ago, Nine Inch Nails released ‘Every Day Is Exactly the Same’ as their third single taken from the album With Teeth. It became NIN 21st official release thus baring the Halo 21 catalogue number.
The radio single reached #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock singles chart in the Modern Rock Tracks category and #12 in the Mainstream Rock Tracks category. The song also reached number one on the Canadian Singles Chart, and received a nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 49th annual Grammy Awards. Though a planned music video was scrapped in the post-production stage, "Every Day Is Exactly the Same" still topped Billboard's 2006 year-end Hot Dance Singles Sales chart, it has so far spent 94 weeks on the chart.
Every Day is Exactly the Same (US CD EP tracklist)
1 "Every Day Is Exactly the Same" – 4:57
2 "The Hand That Feeds" (DFA Mix) – 9:03
3 "The Hand That Feeds" (Photek Straight Mix) – 7:47
4 "Only" (El-P Mix) – 4:22
5 "Only" (Richard X Mix) – 7:25
6 "Every Day Is Exactly the Same" (Sam Fog vs. Carlos D Mix) – 5:03
Every Day is Exactly the Same (Lyrics)
I believe I can see the future
'Cause I repeat the same routine
I think I used to have a purpose
But then again, that might have been a dream
I think I used to have a voice
Now I never make a sound
I just do what I've been told
I really don't want them to come around, oh no
Every day is exactly the same
Every day is exactly the same
There is no love here and there is no pain
Every day is exactly the same
I can feel their eyes are watching
In case I lose myself again
Sometimes I think I'm happy here
(Sometimes)
Sometimes, yet I still pretend
I can't remember how this got started
Oh, but I can tell you exactly how it will end
Every day is exactly the same
Every day is exactly the same
There is no love here and there is no pain
Every day is exactly the same
I'll write it on a little piece of paper
I'm hoping, someday, you might find
Well I'll hide it behind something
They won't look behind
I am still inside her
A little bit comes bleeding through
I wish this could've been any other way
But I just don't know, I don't know what else I can do
Every day is exactly the same
Every day is exactly the same
There is no love here and there is no pain
Every day is exactly the same
Every day is exactly the same
Every day is exactly the same
There is no love here and there is no pain
Every day is exactly the same (every day is the same)
Four years after the acclaimed album Oceans, the Swedish post punk band Principe Valiente are back with a new album. "Barricades" will be released on 18th March 2022.
If you have ever visited the world of Principe Valiente, the ten songs on the new album Barricades will feel pleasantly familiar. The dramatic soundscape rises like a fairytale forest around the singer Fernando Honorato's warm and unassailable voice. It's all in there, the beautiful melodies, the post punk energy and the cinematic drama.
At the same time, it is the quartet's most intimate album to date. On Barricades, the songs have grown out of melodies and chords rather than guitar riffs. Lyrically, Honorato has been seeking new paths. In the dark and sometimes desperate tone, there is always a streak of hope. "I haven't had the same need to express desperation and frustration this time. Now I wanted to try to sing more sensitive", Honorato says.
Barricades is an album deeply affected by the Corona pandemic. Most of the songs have been recorded from home with the members recording their individual contributions alone. This has given the album a special, almost thoughtful, atmosphere. “I've had more time to reflect freely both in terms of lyrics and recording, I've been able to try different ways. In the end, I knew exactly what I was doing with the vocals", Honorato explains.
If the band has previously been something of a solo project for him, this time all four members – Honorato, guitarist Jimmy Ottosson, keyboardist Rebecka Johansson and drummer Joakim Janthe have all contributed to the album. “There are more ideas coming together now. Everyone has added their different perspectives to the songs and it's much more of a collaboration together with Jimmy during the song writing”, according to Honorato.
On Barricades, the band's first album on American label Metropolis Records, Principe Valiente shows its full breadth as a band, from the epic ballad Porcelain to the power and sorrow of “I am you” These two songs also happen to be the album's first two singles. "I am you is the most intense song we have ever done", says Honorato.
As the world now reopens after almost two years of pandemic, Principe Valiente is ready to face it. “Our records never turn out the way we imagine them when we start working, but I'm very happy with Barricades. It feels like it's the best album we've done so far”.
On this day, 20 years ago, Frank Tovey / Fad Gadget died at the age of 45.
Today it’s been already 20 years since Frank Tovey, also known as Fad Gadget, passed away at the age of 45 (°8 September 1956 – † 3 April 2002). He was a pioneer of both (electronic) New-wave and Industrial music. As no other, and we even dare to say upon today, he succeeded in fusing together darkish electro-pop with industrial and noisy experiments.
His sarcastic and darkly humorous view on life reflected his lyrics that were mostly filled with biting social commentary towards subjects such as machinery, industrialization, consumerism, human sexuality, mass media, religion, domestic violence and dehumanization.
In 1978 Frank Tovey sent a demo tape of Back to Nature to Daniel Miller, who had just released his own, and thus first Mute label single, as The Normal.
Tovey signed as Fad Gadget to Daniel Miller's Mute Records made him the first artist to sign to Mute and ”Back to Nature" the second release on Mute Records. The single was recorded on a 8-track recorder and released in 1979. After this successful single release, the follow-up single Ricky’s Hand record was recorded and released. Tovey also began recording a full album, his iconic debut album Fireside Favorites which was released by Mute in November 1980.
In 1981 Tovey released another single “Make Room", featuring the "Lady Shave" on the b-side, the latter went on to become one of his most known and played tracks.
For Tovey the ideas and concepts behind his live performances were just as important as his music. His live appearances quickly became known for his confrontational stage antics.
In total Frank Tovey recorded four albums under the moniker Fad Gadget, four as Frank Tovey and two as Frank Tovey & The Pyros.
After the release and tour from Frank Tovey & The Pyros album Worried Men In Second-Hand Suits (1992) he withdrew from the music scene for almost a decade.
In 2001 he started performing again as Fad Gadget supporting label mates Depeche Mode on their world tour. Fad Gadet was invited by Depeche Mode themselves as they once supported Fad Gadget on tour in 1980.
On April 3rd 2002, only a few days after he had returned home from a Fad Gadget come-back tour through Europe, Frank Tovey died due to a heart failure. Apparently he was aware of the risks of a heart failure that were already diagnosed when he was a chid. This could explain why he called one of the track on his Fireside Favorite debut album the Arch Of The Aorta.
Album Discography
As Fad Gadget
• Fireside Favourites (1980)
• Incontinent (1981)
• Under the Flag (1982)
• Gag (1984)
• The Best of Fad Gadget (2001)
As Frank Tovey
• Easy Listening for the Hard of Hearing (1984) (with Boyd Rice)
• Snakes and Ladders (1986)
• The Fad Gadget Singles (1986)
• Civilian (1988)
• Tyranny & the Hired Hand (1989)
• Grand Union (1991)
• Worried Men in Second Hand Suits (1992)
• Fad Gadget by Frank Tovey (2006)
STEREOSKOP are breaking fresh ground with their sixth album "Silk". After previous releases were mainly focused on dark electronic music their most recent output combines analogue synthwave rhythms with atmospheric guitars, shimmering dreampop sounds and ubiquitous 80s spirits.
Alex Brujas (Guitars, Synths & Drums) and Susana Egea (Vocals & Synths) already gave a first taste of their new direction with the two pre-singles "The Mist" and "Hazel Eyes", which comes to full maturity on the 12-track-album. The musical influences of the Spanish duo range from Vangelis to Cocteau Twins to New Order and John Carpenters’ soundtracks, while their lyrics show inspiration from Sci-Fi and romantic literature of the 18th Century.
As a result, "Silk" is predominated by lush reverie and opens the door to a cosy dreamland in a world gone mad.
[Track Listing]
1 The Mist
2 I Saw The Light
3 Hazel Eyes
4 My Side
5 I Am The One
6 Sun Is Bright
7 Any Other Bot
8 Under
9 Silk Fawn
10 Out Of Control
11 The Story
12 Golden Days
