Sister May is a Belgian band that has been active for several years now. After releasing various singles and EPs, their first self-released album appeared in 2023. They returned early this year with a new opus. “VII” is presented as a conceptual work exploring different types of collapse and the impact they entail.

Musically, Sister May blends many influences into their compositions. Powerful guitar work is complemented by electronic arrangements, creating a fusion of Rock, Industrial, and Metal. Some passages are quieter and even somewhat ethereal, but that calm is soon disrupted by brutal sounds and menacing guitars. Over this sonic maelstrom rises the singer’s extremely passionate—at times almost possessed—voice.

“VII” sounds dark and aggressive, but above all, it stands as a truly cohesive blend of tightly woven influences. (Rating:7).

Listen to “We Care”:

https://sistermay.bandcamp.com/track/we-care

Lina Filipovich is a Belarusian artist based in Paris who has released a considerable body of work over the past five years. “Flowers Of Evil II”, released earlier this year, features eight tracks.

From the very beginning, Lina Filipovich makes it clear that Techno is not necessarily what many expect it to be. For her, it serves more as an element or influence within a broader sonic framework, into which she weaves Ambient textures in a striking and unexpected way. The result is an ethereal atmosphere that adds a distinctive creative twist to her productions. She pays remarkable attention to subtle details—delicate sounds and effects that truly reveal themselves when listened to on headphones. At the same time, her use of Techno structures, driven by a restrained and cool kick, gives the music a sense of movement and makes it surprisingly danceable.

I thoroughly enjoyed this record, which has the potential to resonate with listeners across a wide range of genres. (Rating:8).

Listen to “Obsession”:

https://linafilipovich.bandcamp.com/track/obsession

Freakangel have released the digital “Control” EP today, April 10, 2026, via Alfa Matrix. The Estonian electro-industrial act here unites together the new song “Control” with the earlier singles “Death Bloom” and “Suicidal (Break The Cycle)”.

Below are the official videos for “Death Bloom” and “Suicidal (Break The Cycle)”.

About Freakangel

Freakangel emerged in Tallinn around 2009-2010 under Dmitry Darling. The band debuted on Alfa Matrix with the album “The Faults Of Humanity”, followed by “Let It All End” and “The Ones To Fall”, alongside the EPs “Porcelain Doll”, “The Book Of Violence” and “Into The Fire”, plus the live releases “The Faults Of Humanity: Live” and “The Show Of Violence”.

Note that the 2017 album “How The Ghost Became” and the EP “In The Witch House” were released through DWA.

In 2021 Alfa Matrix released “The Faults Of Humanity (X Anniversary Edition)”, followed by the 2022 EP “The Last White Dance”, the 2023 single “Suicidal (Break The Cycle)” and its extended follow-up, then the 2024 single “Death Bloom”, the “Death Bloom (Extended Version)” EP, and the compilation “Serenity To The Stars, Beauty To The Broken”.

The “Control” is the latest on the band’s releases.

Lords Of Acid have released the new single “Karaoke Superstar” via Metropolis Records. The track features guest vocals by Princess Superstar and is out now with an official video also online.

“Karaoke Superstar” is the first new Lords Of Acid music in eight years, following the band’s most recent studio album “Pretty in Kink” from 2018. We previously reported that the band’s next full-length album is expected later in 2026 and will be the seventh Lords Of Acid studio album, which originally has as working title “Acid Reign“, but since then it has been changed to a yet unknown title.

For many this new single will a big surprise because musically it’s über-commercial.

The new single arrives ahead of the group’s 2026 “Cheeky Freaky” US tour. The tour starts on April 25, 2026 in Las Vegas and continues across the United States through May 31, 2026, with Princess Superstar listed among the tour’s featured acts.

About Lords Of Acid

Lords Of Acid were formed in Antwerp in 1988 by Praga Khan, Olivier Adams and Jade 4U. Musically the project emerged from Belgium’s late-1980s new beat and acid-house scene. Their breakthrough came with the single “I Sit on Acid” in 1988, followed by the debut album “Lust” in 1991.

“Voodoo-U” followed in 1994, “Our Little Secret” in 1997, “Farstucker” in 2000, “Deep Chills” in 2012 and “Pretty in Kink” in 2018. The new yet untitled album follows in late 2026.

Lords Of Acid built their name on a hybrid of acid house, industrial dance, techno and new beat. Lords Of Acid anno 2026 consists of Praga Khan and Olivier Adams, with Carla Harvey active as the present frontwoman on the band’s current cycle.

About Princess Superstar

Princess Superstar is the stage name of Concetta Suzanne Kirschner, a New York-born American rapper, singer, songwriter and DJ active since the early 1990s. Musically she moves between hip hop, house, dance-pop, electro house and electroclash. Before launching her solo career, she played in the all-female group Gamma Rays and began recording under the Princess Superstar name in the mid-1990s.

Her first album, “Strictly Platinum,” was released in 1996. It was followed by “CEO” in 1997, “Last of the Great 20th Century Composers” in 2000, “Princess Superstar Is” in 2001 and “My Machine” in 2005. “Bad Babysitter” became a UK hit in 2002, while “Perfect (Exceeder),” built from her track “Perfect” and Mason’s “Exceeder,” reached No. 3 in the UK in 2007.

Later on Princess Superstar released “The New Evolution” in 2013 and continued with singles and collaborations across pop, dance and electronic music including work with Moby, The Prodigy, Arthur Baker, Prince Paul and Grandmaster Flash. In 2023 she released “Who Am I Now.”

In 2026 she appeared on Lords Of Acid’s “Karaoke Superstar”.

PIG have released the new single “Sex & Suicide” today, April 10, 2026, via Metropolis Records. The track is the second preview of the 10-track album “Hurt People Hurt”, which is scheduled for May 22, 2026. The single follows “Tosca’s Kiss”, which we covered on March 6 as the first track lifted from the same album.

Raymond Watts says this about the new single: “This is a song of pain, pleasure, obsession and possession, written for the departed, the broken-hearted and the newly started. It’s a walk on the high-wire blade of want for something so bad you beg for release.”

A lyric video for “Sex & Suicide”, directed by Grete Stitch Laus, is out now.

“Hurt People Hurt” will be released in LP, CD, and digital formats. The vinyl edition comes as a limited deluxe pressing.

PIG are also listed for Dark Force Fest 2026 at the Sheraton Parsippany in New Jersey, running from May 1 to May 3.

About PIG

PIG is the long-running industrial rock project of English musician Raymond Watts. Watts launched the project in the late 1980s after earlier work with KMFDM, Einstürzende Neubauten, Psychic TV, Foetus, Schaft, and Schwein.

The first PIG release was “A Poke in the Eye… with a Sharp Stick” in 1988. It was followed by “Praise the Lard” in 1991, “A Stroll in the Pork” in 1992, “The Swining” in 1993, “Sinsation” in 1995, “Wrecked” in 1996, and “Genuine American Monster” in 1999. After “Pigmartyr” in 2004, released under Watts name and later reissued as “Pigmata”, the project returned with “The Gospel” in 2016, “Risen” in 2018, “Candy” in 2019, “Pain Is God” in 2020, “The Merciless Light” in 2022, and “Red Room” in 2024. The “Feast of Agony” EP followed in 2024, the remastered “Wrecked” in 2025, the remix set “The Merciful Night” in 2025, and now “Hurt People Hurt” in 2026.

Current members are Raymond Watts, En Esch, Steve White, and Bradley Bills. Watts remains the core figure, while Jim Davies continues as a key writing collaborator.

Nine Inch Nails and Boys Noize have announced a collaborative full-length release titled “Nine Inch Noize“, due out on April 17 as HALO 38 in the band’s long-running Halo series. The project was confirmed through Nine Inch Nails’ official website after a teaser billboard appeared near Indio ahead of the duo’s Coachella appearance.

The release arrives just before Nine Inch Noize’s billed Coachella set on the Sahara stage. The collaboration extends a working relationship that already included Boys Noize’s rework of the Reznor/Ross “Challengers” material, contributions around “Tron Ares: Divergence“, and in 2025 Boys Noize went on tour with Nine Inch Nails for the ‘Peel It Back World Tour 2025’.

About Nine Inch Nails, Boys Noize and Nine Inch Noize

Nine Inch Nails was formed in Cleveland in 1988 by Trent Reznor. Atticus Ross became an official member in 2016. The band’s first release was “Pretty Hate Machine” in 1989 followed by “The Downward Spiral”, “The Fragile”, “Hesitation Marks”, “Bad Witch”, and the 2020 pair “Ghosts V: Together” and “Ghosts VI: Locusts”. In 2025 and 2026, the soundtrack-era releases “Tron: Ares”, “Tron Ares: Divergence” followed, and now “Nine Inch Noize”, a collaboration project with Boys Noize.

Boys Noize is the project of Alexander Ridha, a German producer and DJ from Hamburg who later based himself in Berlin. He founded Boysnoize Records in 2005. His official releases includes “Oi Oi Oi”, “Power”, “Out of the Black”, “Mayday”, and “+/-“, alongside a long run of remixes and collaborations.

Before “Nine Inch Noize”, Ridha’s recent overlap with Nine Inch Nails already covered studio and live work. He remixed material linked to Reznor and Ross’ “Challengers” score, appeared on “Tron Ares: Divergence”, and toured with Nine Inch Nails on the Peel It Back run.

With LARMO, Mirosław Matyasik distills more than two decades of movement through Poland’s independent underground into something at once heavier, broader, and more self-defined. Known from earlier projects such as C.H. District and Godzilla, the Upper Silesian artist has long explored the space where industrial discipline, mechanical repetition, and electronic physicality meet. But LARMO feels like a particularly direct statement: rooted in the sounds, atmosphere, and industrial memory of Upper Silesia, yet open to techno, rhythmic noise, bass music, and other forms that stretch beyond narrow genre borders. Following the strong reception of the debut full-length ‘Alarm’ and a powerful live appearance at Elektroanschlag, LARMO is clearly gaining momentum. We spoke with Mirosław about regional identity, noise as language, collaboration, rhythmic obsession, and what may be coming next.

LARMO interview

Karo: You have been active on the Polish independent scene for more than two decades through projects such as C.H. District and Godzilla. Looking at LARMO today, what does this project allow you to express that perhaps needed exactly this moment in your artistic life to fully emerge?

LARMO: A lot of time has passed, that’s true. I started in the mid-1990s, and back then it was classic industrial-adjacent activity, drawing heavily from the foundations of the genre: electro-acoustic recordings, manipulated tape, analogue synthesizers. I have always been fascinated by rhythm and by the possibilities offered by technology, so later I moved further in that direction and spent the following years exploring mechanical music in a somewhat milder and more dance-oriented form with C.H. District. LARMO is a relatively new matter, I have been working under this name for only a few years. To answer your question directly, it is the result of everything that has accumulated in me musically over all those years. It is a kind of tribute to what gave me the foundations for my work, but above all it is an attempt to move beyond the stylistic limits I used to impose on myself. I think I simply matured into communicating with the world as LARMO.

Karo: LARMO is described as “rhythms and noises from Upper Silesia,” which gives the project a very strong sense of place. How deeply is Upper Silesia present in your music, not just as scenery or biography, but as a real structural force behind the sound?

LARMO: I was born, raised, and still live and create in Upper Silesia. I grew up surrounded by mines and heavy industry, so I absorbed what is unique to this region almost unconsciously. I also became deeply shaped by Silesian tradition, which I value a lot, and I clearly see its diversity and uniqueness. Of course all of this has left its mark on my music, although it does not determine it one hundred percent. The industrial aesthetic, the sounds of this specific environment, are definitely something I want people to hear in my productions.

Karo: The name itself is very direct, almost programmatic: “LARMO means noise.” What does noise mean to you in this context, as pure intensity, as resistance, as communication, or as a way of telling truths that more conventional musical language cannot carry?

LARMO: In the regional dialect, larmo simply means “noise,” and that is where this, as you called it, “programmatic manifesto” comes from. At the same time, it is not just a catchy slogan, but a kind of motto that has accompanied me for as long as I can remember. This form of expression through loud, non-obvious, or unwanted sounds is something that has always been with me, and I feel that this is the way in which I have the most to say.

Karo: Your music clearly draws from the classic industrial tradition, but ‘Alarm’ also absorbs elements of rhythmic noise, techno, illbient, and bass music. How do you keep this wide range of influences focused, so that the result sounds unified rather than merely eclectic?

LARMO: I’m glad you see Alarm as a unified work. That was exactly my intention while I was working on the album. I wanted to move beyond my own limitations and “glue together” ideas that might seem distant from one another into something coherent, but also into something I would genuinely enjoy listening to myself. I’m fascinated by very different kinds of music, film, literature, and art, and none of that is neutral in relation to what I create. Earlier, though, I was afraid of too much variety in my music. Today I’m no longer afraid of that, and LARMO allows me to release it.

Karo: The album title ‘Alarm’ immediately suggests warning, urgency, disturbance, but also alertness and awakening. What kind of alarm did you want this record to sound, and what exactly was demanding to be heard so loudly?

LARMO: Alarm is not a random title. It is my way of telling everyone that I am stepping beyond fixed frames, reaching for different styles, mixing genres, and wanting to connect different scenes. Maybe that sounds a little banal, but I hope readers will understand my intentions very well. We have reached a time in which, especially younger listeners, though not only them, no longer care much about conventions or genre boundaries. That makes me very happy, and I wanted that to happen for a long time. I want to be part of that, and I believe that I am.

Karo: One of the strengths of ‘Alarm’ is that it feels heavy and mechanical, but never static. There is movement, rupture, and a real sense of internal tension. When you build a track, what usually comes first, rhythm, texture, concept, or the physical sensation you want the listener to experience?

LARMO: The rhythmic layer is usually the part I start with when working on a new track. Even when it is a composition without a clearly defined beat, I usually look for some point of reference, some form of repetition. Repetition in music is the key for me. Around rhythm I build everything else. For me it is the element that pulls the whole thing forward, builds the dramaturgy, and carries the track.

Karo: The album features several guests, including Gosia, IHS, Paula, Pachu, and MONYA. What drew you toward these particular collaborations, and how did these outside voices expand or challenge the sonic identity of LARMO?

LARMO: Collaborations on the independent scene are something very natural. It is a relatively small environment of people connected by similar ideas, tastes, worldviews, and approaches to creativity. Usually we know each other, we are colleagues, friends, and that was also the case here.At the same time, I wanted to follow what has already appeared in my previous answers: to move in a less obvious direction. So I invited, among others, vocalists connected to the HC/punk scene, the frontman of the  metal and broadly understood electronics, namely IHS. One of the tracks was remixed by MONYA, and for me that was a natural choice, because I wanted to close the album with something more technoid, maybe even dancefloor-oriented. Monika did that perfectly. I should also add that I really enjoy working with someone else’s sounds or voice and building a composition around them, so these kinds of collaborations will definitely remain an inseparable part of LARMO.

Karo: After several smaller releases, splits, and enthusiastically received concerts, ‘Alarm’ arrived as the first full-length LARMO statement. Did working on a longer format change your understanding of the project itself, perhaps showing you its scope more clearly?

LARMO: A full-length album is a kind of closure to a certain period in my work. Like probably most people dealing with this kind of material, I have dozens of unfinished ideas or loose compositions resting in the proverbial drawer. It is very important to keep moving forward, to close a given stage, and continue working. Releasing Alarm was a very important moment for me. It fully justified the existence of this project and gave it a solid foundation from which I can continue my search.

Karo: Your performance at Elektroanschlag placed LARMO in front of an audience particularly sensitive to sonic intensity, authenticity, and physical impact. How did that show feel from your perspective, and what does the live setting reveal about LARMO that the studio versions cannot fully contain?

LARMO: I am lucky enough to play live relatively often, and because of that I can honestly say that the audience I had the pleasure of meeting at Elektroanschlag was one of the best. I agree with you, they are definitely people who are aware of what they want, sensitive, and authentic. For me it is extremely important when I meet an audience that, through the interaction created between them and the artist, actually drives the performer forward and creates a mutual exchange. My performances are improvised to a large extent. They are based on a general framework, but their final shape comes precisely from that interaction with the audience. At Elektroanschlag, playing felt fantastic, and I had the impression that people were enjoying themselves as well. I had some concerns, because I was opening the second day of the festival at a rather early hour, but after a few seconds that feeling gave way to pure joy from performing. I felt that magical thread of understanding.

Karo: With ‘Alarm’ having been so well received in Poland and abroad, and with LARMO clearly gaining momentum, what is currently waiting in the shadows? Are there new releases, new collaborations, or new directions already taking shape behind the scenes?

LARMO: It’s nice to hear that. Alarm really did receive quite a lot of positive reviews. At the moment I’m working on new material in parallel. One of those things should appear in the near future, while the other belongs more to the slightly more distant future. There are also some concert plans, although that side of things is always very dynamic. I have no intention of resting on my laurels. I still want to do as much as possible, and where that leads me, we will see.

Austin electro-industrial duo Dread Risks just released the digital single “Invertebrate” via the Oklahoma-based label Re:Mission Entertainment. The single comes accompanied by the “Invertebrate video” and the B-side “Where You Left (Snowbeasts Remix)”.

The new track is moving into new territories with the band adopting a melodic and strained, electro-industrial formula. On mixing and mastering duties we find Illuminox on track one, while Snowbeasts mixed the remix and Illuminox mastered it.

The single follows “Where You Left”, which we covered on March 6, 2026 as Dread Risks’ first new release since “hellhymn”, issued on August 1, 2025.

About Dread Risks

Dread Risks formed in Austin in 2018 as a two-piece, Kris O. on vocals and Eric R. on live audio/visual work, with both members sharing production duties. The band debuted with the track “Voidhost”, followed by “errorcode (adoration destroyed remix)” on February 14, 2020.

After signing to Re:Mission Entertainment in 2021, the duo released the six-track “Trauma Ties” on September 17, 2021. That release was followed by “Obliteration Complex” in October 2021 and the full-length “Automated Disappointment” on March 25, 2022 in digital, CD, and vinyl formats.

Later releases included “Bound Limbs (ESA Remix)” in September 2022, “Machine Identity (in the walls mix by God Module)” in March 2023, “Comadose (Moaan Exis Remix)” in July 2023, “Extinction Form” in September 2023, “hellhymn” in August 2025, and “Where You Left” in March 2026.

The Polish project Undertheskin returned in December 2025 with their third album. This is their first new opus since “Negative” (2019) and also their debut album on Young And Cold Records.

“Negative” was a true gem in the Dark-Wave genre, an influence that is retained on this new full-length release. The music remains steeped in a pitch-black atmosphere, yet “Never / Return” also sounds slightly more melodic and—one might even say—a bit more ‘Pop’-oriented. This is particularly evident in some of the choruses, where they occasionally evoke an imaginary hybrid of Mesh (for the Pop sensibility) and The Cure (for the dark atmosphere). The final section, however, turns darker and somewhat more melancholic, achieving a perfect balance between guitars and synths. Add to that the passionate vocals of frontman and founder Mariusz Łuniewski, and Undertheskin has once again delivered a highly accomplished effort.

In my opinion, this is a band that deserves wider recognition, although any true Post-Punk enthusiast has likely already discovered both the group and this excellent new release. (Rating:8½).

Listen to “End This / Winter”:

https://underskin.bandcamp.com/track/end-this-winter

New York electro-industrial duo Fermion return with the five-track EP “Four Dimensions”, out today via Re:Mission Entertainment. The digital release follows the duo’s album “Conflicted“, which arrived in July 2025.

The EP runs through “Call To Arms”, “Myriad Complex”, “Four Dimensions”, “Luminous Screens”, and a closing version of Simple Minds’ “Theme For Great Cities”. While “Call To Arms” draws on classic EBM, “Myriad Complex” pushes that rhythmic approach further, the title track then again adds goa trance elements, and “Luminous Screens” moves into a warmer synthpop register. The closing cover stays quite faithful to the original, albeit in the Fermion’s trademark sound.

“Four Dimensions” was mixed, produced, and mastered by Justin Singer at 10×13 Studio in Media, Pennsylvania.

About Fermion

Fermion is the New York project of Eric Shans and Augustine Backer. Shans is handling programming, songwriting, engineering, and vocals, while Backer takes care of the sound design, songwriting, additional production, and engineering. The project began after they met at a producers’ meet-up in New York City, with the collaboration formally taking shape in 2019.

Their first release was the EP “We Are Nowhere” on October 18, 2019. That was followed by the New Order cover “Vanishing Point” in December 2019, the album “Elegiac” on June 19, 2020, the OMD cover “Messages” on August 31, 2020, and the album “Hysteresis” on October 21, 2021.

Fermion returned in 2023 with the singles “Surveillance” and “Relapsed”, both leading into the album “Infinity Terminal”, released on October 27, 2023. The duo then joined Re:Mission Entertainment and released “Conflicted” on July 25, 2025.

German synth-pop/dark wave project Meersein has released the single “Ariel“. The track follows “Tide Myself” and is the second single from the new five-track EP “Ocean”, which will be out tomorrow.

“Ariel” reworks the familiar mermaid figure around sacrifice, identity, and transformation. The single keeps Meersein’s synth-pop core in place while inserting post-punk and dark wave elements. An official video is available as well.

Here is the single on Spotify. as well as the previous 2-track single “Tide Myself”.

About Meersein

Meersein is the German synth-pop/dark wave project of Jan Schütz from Oldenburg. The project has Jan Schütz on vocals and guitar and Renee Brandt on keyboards and synthesizers.

Schütz launched his own radio show in October 2021 and began releasing Meersein material in 2022. The debut single “Speechless” came out in June 2022, followed by an acoustic version later that year.

In 2023 the project released “Faded Eyes”, “Her Slave” featuring Corlyx, and “Haunting”.

“Mavrula” followed in January 2024, “Stripped” in May 2024, “Forbidden Love” in February 2025, and “Bloody Gloria” in October 2025. In January 2026, we already announced “Tide Myself” as the first preview of “Ocean”. “Ariel” now follows as the second single from that EP.

Clock DVA, the Sheffield post-punk / industrial group, have shared both the DVATION 2026 version and the remastered version of “Sensorium” ahead of the 45th anniversary reissue of “Thirst“, due on June 5, 2026 via The Grey Area of Mute. The reissue is set for limited double thirst-red vinyl, CD and digital release.

Adi Newton says the move from “White Souls in Black Suits” to “Thirst” also coincided with a line-up change: “Between White Souls and Thirst, the guitarist changed from David Hammond to Paul Widger.” And he adds that the material had become “more structured and exact than the improvised works on White Souls.”

The “Thirst” line-up featured Adi Newton, Steven James Turner, Roger Quail, Paul Widger and Charlie Collins. The album was recorded at Jacobs Studios in Surrey and produced by Newton and Ken Thomas, while Neville Brody handled the sleeve design.

Originally released through Fetish on January 24, 1981, “Thirst” was Clock DVA’s second studio album. The 2026 edition expands the original nine-track album with two live recordings from The Lyceum, the single mixes of “4 Hours” and “Sensorium”, and new 2026 versions of both tracks. The reissue was expanded and remastered from the original tapes with input from the surviving Clock DVA members.

Below are the two videos for the previous double tracker “4 Hours”.

‘Thirst’ tracklist

1. “Uncertain”
2. “Sensorium”
3. “White Cell”
4. “Piano Pain”
5. “Blue Tone”
6. “North Loop”
7. “4 Hours”
8. “Moments”
9. “Impressions of African Winter”
10. “The Opening (Live At The Lyceum)”
11. “Remain Remain (Live At The Lyceum)”
12. “4 Hours (Single Mix)”
13. “Sensorium (Single Mix)”
14. “4 Hours (DVATION 2026 version)”
15. “Sensorium (DVATION 2026 version)”

About Clock DVA

Clock DVA formed in Sheffield in 1978. Adi Newton and bassist Steven “Judd” Turner put together the first line-up with David J. Hammond, Roger Quail and Charlie Collins after Newton’s earlier involvement with The Studs and The Future. The group first issued “White Souls in Black Suits” in 1980 on Industrial Records, then followed it with “Thirst” in 1981.

The 1981 album “Thirst” ran to nine tracks, including “Sensorium” and “4 Hours”. After this album, the band split, while Quail, Collins and Widger later went on to form The Box. Turner died in September 1981.

Newton revived Clock DVA in 1982 with a new line-up that included John Valentine Carruthers, leading to “Advantage” in 1983. He reactivated the project again in 1987, after work with The Anti-Group, and that resulted in “Buried Dreams” (1989), “Man-Amplified” and “Digital Soundtracks” in 1992, and “Sign” in 1993. A further reactivation took place in 2008. In 2024, we covered the “Re-Konstructed (Atom & Scanner remixes)” and the limited vinyl issue of “Re-Konstructed“. We later also covered the T.A.G.C. reissue “Iso-Erotic Calibration” in December 2024, and the 2025 Grey Area of Mute reissue of “White Souls in Black Suits“.

With Hoy and the debut album “Getting Closer”, we welcome a new project from Carl Sjöström. The name Scapa Flow will likely ring a bell for many EBM fans from the late ’80s and early ’90s, as Sjöström was a member of that group. He has been active with Hoy for about two years now and has already released several singles and EPs.

“Getting Closer” features ten tracks that genuinely surprised me with their originality. It proves that there are still true musicians and creatives who dare to pursue a sound with real individuality. As a result, it is not easy to pin down Hoy’s genre. There is certainly an Electro-Pop foundation, but it feels highly atypical and often leans toward minimalism and soft EBM elements. The overall sound is somewhat subdued—at times mysterious, yet also floating and atmospheric. Carl Sjöström’s voice is particularly convincing and, above all, a perfect match for the music. Subtle female backing vocals appear here and there, adding further depth. One notable track is the very restrained “Why”, a cover of Annie Lennox. In my opinion, however, it is one of the weaker moments on the album.

To me, this album feels like a genuine revelation: intelligent music that offers something truly fresh within a scene often driven by imitation. (Rating:8½).

Listen to “Confident Smile”:

https://hoymusic1.bandcamp.com/track/confident-smile

Toronto electro-industrial duo Kill Instinct (Phil Gonzo and Lea Ashley) have announced their second LP, “Kill Two: Behavioral Sink”, for release through their own Freak Power label. The rollout starts with lead single “Ignore the Static” on May 1, 2026, followed by a five-single campaign ahead of the full album.

Across the 12 tracks the band tackles identity, social collapse, and the idea of the behavioral sink. The project draws a direct line to John B. Calhoun’s “behavioral sink” concept and the broader “Universe 25” experiments, which examined the social breakdown that emerged in overcrowded rodent colonies.

Kill Instinct describe the album as heavier, faster, and more aggressive than their debut. The release schedule lists “People You Love” for May 29, “Control” for June 26, “Bury It Deep” for July 24, and “Rat Utopia” for August 21, before the album arrives on September 18, 2026. Lea Ashley says: “Our upcoming record is an uncompromising body of work that we have spent the last 12 months refining.” She also described it as “an album that stands for today-one that is raw, honest, and broken, but somehow finds enough optimism by the end to keep us going.”

Kill Instinct’s current catalogue is available through Bandcamp.

About Kill Instinct

Kill Instinct is a Toronto electro-industrial duo which anno 2026 consists of Phil Gonzo and Lea Ashley.

The project’s debut full-length, the eight-track digital album “Kill.One”, was released on February 27, 2025. Its tracklist includes “Funerals”, “Parasocial”, “Grip (Tighter)”, “BIG”, “King of Kings”, “Lovers”, “False Deities”, and “Paradise”.

A steady run of releases arrived after that album, including “Parasocial (Svjet Zéro Remix)” in May 2025, “Paradise (Vakhtang Remix)” in July 2025, “Funerals (Svjet Zéro Remix)” and “Grip (Tighter) [Forged Reigns Remix]” in August 2025, “BIG (Jalex Remix)” and “Funeral Stripper” in October 2025, “Parasocial (Trakt Null Remix)” in December 2025, and “Funeral Stripper (Night Version)” in January 2026.

In between they also released he standalone single “BIG (VIP)” on November 7, 2025.

Outside Kill Instinct, Phil Gonzo has done remix work cfor Matte Blvck’s “Vows” release. which supports the duo’s stated ties to the current dark electronic scene. And now there is “Kill Two: Behavioral Sink”, the second Kill Instinct LP, led by the forthcoming single “Ignore the Static”.

The Lille, France-based alternative pop and dark electronic rock act The Noise Who Runs has released the new single “Commercial Road” . The track previews the 10-track album “RE: GEN X”, which is due on May 8 via TNWR Records. The project is led by Ian Pickering, known for his writing work with Sneaker Pimps and work with Front Line Assembly.

“Commercial Road” is presented as a study of moral paralysis, transactional culture, and public complicity. Pickering says the song “asks what we tolerate, what we ignore, and what we quietly become as a result.” The single was written by Pickering, performed and produced by The Noise Who Runs, with additional production, mixing, and mastering by Colin C at The Cell Studios. The “Commercial Road” video was created by Pickering as well.

The album continues the line opened by the earlier preview tracks “The Bodies Are Under The Bus Again” and “Bang Bang”. Pickering describes the forthcoming album “RE: GEN X” as “a reply to my own generation,” reckoning with passivity, fatigue, and the collapse of public responsibility.

The full tracklist is: “The Summer Talking”, “Bang Bang”, “Trust Me I’m a Psychopath”, “This Song Sucks (Mind the Gap)”, “Just The English Way”, “The Bodies Are Under The Bus Again”, “Home Front Truths”, “We Are Breach”, “Commercial Road”, and “All Assuming You”.

About The Noise Who Runs

The Noise Who Runs started in Lille, France in 2019 as an Anglo-French project formed by Ian Pickering and guitarist Felipe Goes. The project formed after Pickering moved from Hartlepool in north-east England to France in 2016. The project name came from Pickering’s association with the French phrase “O bruit qui cour”.

Before launching The Noise Who Runs, Pickering had already built a long writing history around British electronic music including Sneaker Pimps (“Becoming X”, “Splinter”, and “Bloodsport”). He further worked with Front Line Assembly, Transporter, Valerie Renay, Horrorfall. In 2014 he released the solo album “Left Handed Tendencies”.

The Noise Who Runs’ first releases arrived during the pandemic period, when live plans were interrupted and the focus shifted to recording. “The First of Two Sides of a Double-Headed Coin” and “The Other Side of the Same Double-Headed Coin” were released in 2020, followed by “High Time in Lo-Fi” on March 6, 2022, then “These Will Be Your Gods” in January 2023. That was followed by “Beautiful Perhaps” in February 2023, “Takes A Long Cold Look And Then The Kitchen Sink” in March 2023, and the 14-track debut album “Preteretrospective” in April 2023.

The release flow continued through “New York To L.A. In 2-And-A-Half Minutes” in May 2023, “Tune Out, Turn Off, Drop In” in November 2023, “Mars Attached” in December 2023, and the EP “Come and Join the Beautiful Army” on January 12, 2024.

The first “RE: GEN X” tracks to be released were “The Bodies Are Under The Bus Again” on December 19, 2025, then “Bang Bang” on March 10, 2026, and now “Commercial Road”.

Ashen Sun, the Stockholm project led by Johnny Hagel (ex-Tiamat), will release “Worlock” on April 17, 2026. The single reworks Skinny Puppy’s “Worlock”, originally issued from the 1989 album “Rabies”, and features Lucifer’s Aid. It follows Ashen Sun’s six-track EP “Velarium”, which arrived on March 27, 2026.

The new version is a gothic reinterpretation rather than a direct cover. The cover offers a slower and more atmospheric approach built around layered textures, restrained dynamics and a darker cinematic approach. The band says they wanted to reinterpret the song “through our own lens”.

The single is scheduled for major streaming platforms on April 17, but a trailer is already online.

About Ashen Sun

Ashen Sun emerged in 2024 as Johnny Hagel’s own project. Based in Stockholm the project mixes dark gothic rock, cold-wave synths and cinematic electronics.

Hagel is best known from earlier work in Tiamat and Sundown, a band he co-founded Sundown. Besides this he was involved with Sorcerer as well.

The first Ashen Sun release was the standalone single “Whisper to the Skull”, issued on October 20, 2025. “Faith’s Funeral” followed in December 2025 and “Black Thoughts” in February 2026, before the March 2026 release of “Ashes of the World” and the full “Velarium” EP on Desert Plain Records.

More material is expected to lead toward a full-length album later in 2026.

Electronic progressive pop veterans Biomekkanik have signed a multi-album deal with Dependent Records. The Swedes’ forthcoming new album will be released in 2026 and their previous full-length, “Violently Beautiful”, will also be taken over by the label.

The band’s founder Christer Hermodsson says: “Although Biomekkanik have been silent for a decade, the songwriting never stopped,” adding that the signing means “this beast is finally coming back to life again.” Dependent founder Stefan Herwig from his side described the band as “one of those hidden gems.”

The catalogue shift is already visible on streaming platforms. Current platform listings show a 2026 Dependent edition of “Violently Beautiful”. That digital version runs to 11 tracks and includes the David Bowie cover “Life On Mars”, while the original Danse Macabre edition was released on January 16, 2015 as a 10-track album.

Wave-Gotik-Treffen have also listed Biomekkanik among its confirmed artists for 2026, while the band has announced a June 26 appearance at Subkult Festival in Trollhättan.

About Biomekkanik

Biomekkanik is a Swedish band formed in 2007 with two albums to its name. The project was started by Christer Hermodsson and later expanded from a solo vehicle into a band format. Hermodsson is also known as frontman of S.P.O.C.K and SPARK!, and he did production work for Page, Sista Mannen På Jorden And One, Cat Rapes Dog and Mr Kite.

In 2007 the promo/demo “State Of Perfection” was distributed followed by the 2008 single “Enemy”, and the debut album “State of Perfection”. That album was released via SubSpace Communications on June 17, 2009.

By the time of “Violently Beautiful”, Biomekkanik had become a trio with Mattias Johansson and Andreas Ingefjord alongside Hermodsson. Danse Macabre released the album on January 16, 2015. Danse Macabre later announced a rerelease of “Violently Beautiful” in October 2021.

The current return marks another line-up change as Sandra Mattsson (Morlocks) joined the band.

Stuttgart dark rock band Astraya has released “A Theory of Time”, the second single and video from their upcoming second album “Atropine”. The song follows the earlier single “A Spark Within”.

This is what the band says about the new single “A Theory of Time”: “It is about reflecting on time, the universe, and what happens after death. Inspired by a scientific article, it blends science with personal emotions, especially the loss of a loved one, and expresses a deep desire to escape time and find a place where it no longer exists.”

Below is the video for the previous single “A Spark Within”.

“Atropine” thematically handles human fragility, addiction, fate and time. Production and mixing was done by guitarist Tim Suske, and mastering was done by Roland Böffgen at Hard Drive Sound Studio. You will also hear experimental flute by Yael Su on the title track.

“Atropine” is scheduled for April 24, 2026 via These Hands Melt on vinyl, CD and in digital formats. The LP is limited to 200 copies and the CD to 300 copies.

About Astraya

Astraya was formed in Stuttgart in 2018 by vocalist Melina Abele and guitarist Benny Gölz. Guitarist Tim Suske joined soon after, and bassist Tobias Hänsel and drummer Klaus Wintermayr completed the lineup after early personnel changes. Musically the band brings dark rock, with elements of post-rock, metal, doom and post-metal.

The band self-released the EP “Black Awakening” on September 14, 2019. It was followed by the standalone tracks “The Moribund” in November 2021, “Epiphany Pt. 1” in early 2022, and “The Fountain” on May 9, 2022. Those releases led towards the debut full-length “Myth Of Dike”, issued on June 5, 2023.

In 2023 the band also recorded a cover of Failure’s “Heliotropic” for Bitume Prods. Astraya joined the Rome-based label These Hands Melt in 2024. Their second album “Atropine” follows on April 24, 2026.

Ancient Methods originally started as a duo but has, for some time now, been driven by its sole remaining member, Michael Wollenhaupt. With this new work—explicitly presented as an EP, but which, with its seven tracks, feels more like a mini-album or even a full-length—Wollenhaupt draws inspiration from the book of the same name by Guy Debord. In “La Société Du Spectacle”, Debord offers a critical perspective on the consumer society of the previous century.

Musically, this concept is translated into a blend of influences that, once unraveled, reveal elements of Techno, Trance, and Industrial. From the outset, it becomes clear that this is best approached as an EP: three short tracks function more as conceptual fragments, contributing to the overarching narrative rather than standing on their own. The opening track is a true sonic bomb, driven by rousing rhythms and a near-perfect fusion of Industrial and Techno. The atmosphere is cold, even somewhat grim. Elsewhere, a passage is propelled by an exhilarating, heavy kick, accompanied by a compelling female voice courtesy of Night In Athens. Similar elements can be found throughout the other tracks, although Ancient Methods occasionally leans into a more Ethereal direction, while primarily showcasing a veritable arsenal of sounds.

There is certainly much to appreciate in this release, with the immensely powerful opening track standing out in particular. (Rating:8½).

Listen to “Image Is My Commodity”:

https://ancientmethods.bandcamp.com/track/image-is-my-commodity

Unter Null has marked one year since the release of “Coming Up To Breathe”, the dark electro comeback single Erica Dunham released on April 4, 2025 via Alfa Matrix as a pay-what-you-want Bandcamp download, with streaming on Spotify and other major platforms. The track ended more than a decade of release silence under the Unter Null name.

In a new anniversary statement on her Facebook page, Dunham says the song was “the first crack in the realization I could actually write again and let the floodgates open fully,” adding that the lyrics “ended up saying everything I couldn’t articulate at the time.” She also described the track as something she wrote out of necessity to process her return.

Alfa Matrix followed that comeback single with the “You Made A Monster” EP, which included the original “Coming Up To Breathe” and remixes by C-Lekktor, Frontal Boundary, and Leaether Strip.

And that we can expect more material is pretty sure: “I’m still here and still breathing. And oh do I have some surprises up my rolled-up and tired sleeves for you all.”

The official video for the single, directed by Christopher Lee Trueman. is available on YouTube.

About Unter Null

Unter Null is the solo project of American musician Erica Dunham, founded in 1998 in Seattle, Washington. Initially rooted in power noise and harsh electronics, the project evolved into aggrotech/dark elektro through early self-released material and live dates in the early 2000s. Unter Null’s first full-length album, “The Failure Epiphany”, arrived in 2005 via Alfa Matrix (later re-issued with bonus material), following club traction around “Your Nightmare” and “Sick Fuck”. Touring in the U.S. and Europe followed in 2005–2006.

On December 25, 2008, a house/studio fire destroyed Dunham’s recording equipment and jeopardized work then in progress. Despite the loss, files were recovered and Unter Null released “Moving On” in 2010 (Alfa Matrix), including expanded editions and international versions. Dunham later relocated for a period to Hamburg, Germany, before activity shifted again to the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The project continued sporadic releases and remixes through the 2010s. She also worked on her more atmospheric side project Stray in that period.

In 2025, Unter Null returned with new studio material through Alfa Matrix, including the single “Coming Up To Breathe” (April 4, 2025) and the EP “You Made A Monster” (July 25, 2025). The EP features remixes by C-Lekktor, Leaether Strip, and Frontal Boundary and is distributed digitally via Bandcamp and other platforms. Unter Null also contributed remixes and collaborations in 2025, including featured work connected to Frontal Boundary.

En Esch has announced his En Esch 2026 tour, a nine-date US run scheduled for April and May.

The Berlin-based musician and former KMFDM, Pigface, and PIG member will perform material from across his catalogue, including songs from the 2024 album “Dance Hall Putsch”. “Dance Hall Putsch” was released on September 27, 2024 via GIVE/TAKE. The record is available in vinyl, CD, and digital formats.

En Esch 2026 tour dates

• 4.23 Detroit, MI – Smalls
• 4.24 Milwaukee, WI – Da Bar
• 4.25 Chicago, IL – Live Wire Lounge w/project .44
• 4.27 Davenport, IA – Racoon Motel
• 4.28 Minneapolis, MN – Uptown VFW w/Dissociate
• 5.01 Parsippany, NJ – Dark Force Fest
• 5.06 Richmond, VA – Fallout
• 5.08 Tampa, FL – New World Music Hall
• 5.09 Jacksonville, FL – The Albatross

About En Esch

En Esch is the stage name of Berlin-based Nicklaus Schandelmaier, a musician born on March 23, 1968. He was a member of KMFDM from 1985 to 1999 and later worked with Pigface, PIG, Slick Idiot, and Mona Mur.

His solo discography began with “Cheesy” in 1993 followed by later solo releases including “Spänk”, “Trash Chic”, “Et Nos Unum Sumus”, and more recently “Dance Hall Putsch”. After KMFDM’s split in 1999, he formed Slick Idiot with Günter Schulz, then later collaborated with Mona Mur on “120 Tage” in 2009 and a second album in 2011.

Belgian post-punk band The Names have released the remix and companion album “Balancing Chaos (RMXing The Names)” via Spleen+, the post-punk division of Brussels label Alfa Matrix. The 17-track release appears as a CD digipack and as a digital album through the band’s official Bandcamp page.

“Balancing Chaos” expands on the 2025 studio album “Encore!” with 13 remixes and 4 original album versions of “Far From The Factories”, “Watching For The New World”, “Last Train From Nowhere” and “Apophenia”. Digital pre-orders are available now with the two advance tracks: “Last Train From Nowhere (Gil Robert retrofuturistic remix)” and “Procrastination (Hard Facts remix)”.

The release follows a run of Spleen+ titles that reintroduced the band through the 2-track single “Far From The Factories“, the four-track “Volume” EP, the full-length “Encore!“, the “Swimming With Brian Jones” EP, and the digital “Procrastination” EP centred on the track of the same name.

Remixers include Jean-Marc Lederman, Kyiv-based producer Hard Facts, Gil Robert, Nevel (featuring Reverend Basstorius), Eden, Mike Theis, Halcyon Loop, Rob G. Nichols, Diskodiktator and Error Fate.

Jean-Marc Lederman contributes a rework of “Watching For The New World” dedicated to the late Annik Honoré, while Hard Facts delivers a club-oriented version of “Procrastination”, following earlier work on the “Procrastination” EP. Multiple mixes by Gil Robert are also included, ranging from a retro-futuristic take on “Last Train From Nowhere” to an extended dark electro pop version of “Apophenia” and an ambient electro-focused treatment of “Swimming With Brian Jones”.

Mike Theis, known for work with artists including Tricky and Massive Attack, appears here with the “morecowbell” remix of “Last Train From Nowhere”. Additional interpretations by Eden, Nevel, Halcyon Loop, Rob G. Nichols, Diskodiktator and Error Fate complete the set before the album versions return the material to its original band arrangements.

The new version of “Procrastination (Hard Facts remix)” is accompanied by a video as well.

Also the single “Far From The Factories”, which closes “Balancing Chaos” in its album version, received the video treatment.

About The Names

The Names formed in Brussels, Belgium, in 1978, emerging from an earlier local group called The Passengers. The original core featured bassist, vocalist and songwriter Michel Sordinia together with guitarist Marc Deprez and drummer/keyboard player Christophe Den Tandt, with Robert Frankson and Isabelle Hanrez passing through the line-up in the early years.

Their debut single “Spectators of Life” appeared in 1979 on WEA as part of a push for locally produced new wave. After a concert by Joy Division in Brussels, the band signed to Factory Records and, with new drummer Luc Capelle, recorded the single “Nightshift” in Manchester with producer Martin Hannett in 1980. Further singles “Calcutta” (on Factory Benelux) and “The Astronaut” (on Les Disques du Crépuscule) led into their first album “Swimming” in 1982. A BBC session for John Peel’s Radio 1 show that same year was later issued as the digital EP “Radio Session 1982”.

The band split in the mid-1980s as the initial post-punk wave receded, but Sordinia and Deprez continued together in the project Jazz, releasing the album “Nightvision”. Archival releases such as “Postcard Views”, the expanded “Swimming + Singles” editions and the compilation “Spectators of Life” kept the early catalogue in circulation through labels including LTM and Factory Benelux.

The Names reunited for the “A Factory Night (and then again)” event at Plan K in Brussels in 2007 and moved back into the studio. They released “Monsters Next Door” in 2009 via Str8line and “Stranger Than You” in 2015 on Factory Benelux, followed by the live album “German Nights” in 2018 and the archival set “Hidden Tracks” in 2021.

From 2024 onward, the band became part of the Spleen+ roster within the Alfa Matrix group, issuing the single “Far From The Factories”, the “Volume” EP, the studio album “Encore!”, the “Swimming With Brian Jones” EP and the digital “Procrastination” EP. The latter centred on multiple versions of “Procrastination”, including the Hard Facts remix that now reappears on “Balancing Chaos”.

German electro/future pop project Elektrostaub has just released a third studio album, “Humility” via the Belgian label Alfa Matrix as a CD and digital edition. The 12-track studio album again centres mastermind Patrick Knoch’s songwriting and production, built entirely around guest vocal performances. Musically the album offers a mix between future pop, synth pop and electro wave.

Guest contributions include Richard Bjørklund of Spektralized, Salva Maine from Spanish act Culture Kultür, vocalist Lis van den Akker, Norwegian synth project Echo Image, British artist J:Dead, singer and producer Alex Braun, Lilli K. Engelhardt, René Anke of Logic & Olivia, German duo Beyond Border and Mel Gúntzelsson of Future Trail / davaNtage.

Two tracks from the album have already appeared as singles and EPs. “Falling” features Pal Magnus Rybom of Echo Image and originally appeared on both the “Too Far From The Pack EP” and the “Falling EP“, which were released digitally in 2025 via Alfa Matrix.

The title track “Too far from the pack”, featuring Salva Maine, also forms part of that 2nd EP and returns here in its main album version and a separate female vocal edit with Lilli K. Engelhardt.

About Elektrostaub

German solo project Elektrostaub operates from the northern Ruhr area of Germany and focuses on electro-pop and future pop. Programmer and composer behind the 2007 formed project is Patrick Knoch, who is each time joined by a rotating line-up of guest vocalists.

The early Elektrostaub catalogue initially appeared via the German label Echozone and featured several collaborative singles. The debut album “Birthday And Death” followed on November 17, 2017 on Echozone, after the singles “Unforgotten” (with Henrik Iversen), “Also Without You” (with Anne Goldacker) and “Funeral Of Love”, which combined harsher EBM-leaning production with guest vocals from Ruined Conflict and Nordika. This material was later reissued when Elektrostaub joined Alfa Matrix, making the full back catalogue available again through the Belgian label.

The second studio album “Reliance” arrived in December 2021 on Alfa Matrix as a CD and digital release, again built around a long list of guest singers, including Patrik Hansson (Vanguard, Uncreated), Henrik Iversen, !Distain, René Anke, Stefan Netschio (Beborn Beton), Jan Dieckmann (Norderney), Alex Rush (Unity One), Claudia Uhle (X-Perience), Damasius Venys (Mondträume / Mental Exile), Alex Nórdika and Darrin Huss (Psyche).

Between and around the two albums, Elektrostaub built a catalogue of EPs and singles. The 2020 “Wake Up” EP marked the project’s first Alfa Matrix release. It was followed by the 2021 single “We Are Dreamers” with Patrik Hansson of Vanguard / Uncreated.

Recent years saw further EPs on Alfa Matrix, including reworked material from the debut, standalone singles and collaborations. In 2025, the label released the “Too Far From The Pack EP”, followed by the “Falling” remix EP later that year which centered around the track holding guest vocals by Pal Magnus Rybom of Echo Image.

Make sure to read our interview with Elektrostaub to know more about the project.

Greek goth rock/metal band Blossom Death will release their debut album “Spirit” on May 21, 2026 via The Circle Music. The release follows the band’s earlier “Mistaken” record and the split EP “Eon Must Fail” with In Burial.

“Spirit” comes as a limited digicd with a 12-page booklet, limited to 500 copies. You can pre-order the album right now from The Circle Music. The six-track album includes “Stone Kiss”, “Fallen”, “Morning After”, “Solitude”, “Spirit of Life”, and “Before I Can See”.

The album was already teased with “Stone Kiss” as the lead single with an official video.

About Blossom Death

Blossom Death was formed in late 2018 in Varkiza, Greece, by Kostas “Corax” Katoikos, Marita Makaronidi, and drummer Argy Deligianopoulos. The project is in fact Katoikos’s post-Sorrowful Angels band.

The band’s first release was the three-track “Mistaken”, holding the tracks “Mistaken”, “All That I Want”, and “Pad Out”. It appeared digitally on December 13, 2019 and then as a mini-CD via Sleaszy Rider in March 2020.

Blossom Death returned on March 10, 2023 with the split CD “Eon Must Fail”, released by Sleaszy Rider. That record paired three Blossom Death tracks – “Beyond Time”, “Along with the Tide”, and “Naphtalene” – with two tracks by In Burial.

For “Spirit”, the band signed with The Circle Music. The current line-up consists of Kostas “Corax” Katoikos on guitar and vocals, Marita Makaronidi on vocals and lyrics, Johny Litinakis on bass guitar, Vasilis Koronas on lead guitar, Evmara Katoikou on additional vocals, and Argy Deligianopoulos on drums.

“Spirit” is the band’s first full-length album.

Guillaume Sonne Ombrée is a French multi-instrumentalist who releases his debut album “Calvaire” under the name Ombrée. The background and immediate impetus for this work carry deep emotional weight, as the album was directly inspired by the passing of the artist’s father. It stands as a form of mourning, giving rise to six intense and personal compositions.

Musically, the album often recalls the experimental edge of the 1980s Industrial scene. A dark, raw atmosphere permeates the work, framed by the tolling of a church bell that serves as both its opening and closing motif. In between, a dense collage of sounds and textures unfolds, including field recordings that are tightly compressed into the mix. Guitar and bass lines are heavily distorted, twisted into tormented shapes and submerged in layers of electronic effects. At times, I find myself missing a voice—some kind of rough, almost archaic outcry—yet the absence never detracts too much from the overall impact.

What Ombrée delivers remains compelling and immersive. The production will undoubtedly resonate with listeners drawn to Industrial, Experimental, and Drone music, and Last Few Days in particular feels like a subtle bridge back to the spirit of the 1980s. (Rating:7½).

Listen to “Foie”:

https://ishallsinguntilmylandisfree.bandcamp.com/track/foie

The Italian darkwave / post-punk quartet Christine Plays Viola have released “Desolate Moments“, the third video-single taken from “F.I.V.E. – Fear Increases Violent Emotions”, their fifth studio album, released on January 19, 2026 via Cleopatra Records.

“Desolate Moments is about that fragile space where you realize you’ve lost yourself, but you’re still conscious enough to feel it,” guitarist and songwriter Fabrizio Giampietro says. He adds that the line “you exist nowhere” sums up the song’s central idea of losing your place in reality. Discussing the clip, he says the band chose silhouettes instead of faces to reflect “that dissolution of identity.”

The “F.I.V.E. – Fear Increases Violent Emotions” album is available from Bandcamp.

The line-up for the album consisted of Massimo Ciampani, Fabrizio Giampietro, Marco Di Ianni, and Gianluca Orsini, with production by the band and recording, mixing, and mastering by Salvatore Carducci.

About Christine Plays Viola

The Italian dark / new wave band Christine Plays Viola formed in Pratola Peligna, in Italy’s Abruzzo region, in 2008. The earliest release was “Promo 2010”, followed by a deal with the German label afmusic for the debut full-length “Innocent Awareness”, released on May 13, 2011. That same period also produced the band’s first video, “Witch of Silence”, directed by Loreto Valente.

“Promo 2012” was followed by the EP “Leocadia” on May 31, 2013. “Vacua” followed in 2014 on Cold Insanity Music. On February 27, 2015, the band released the 7-inch EP “The Stars Can’t Frighten” which included covers of Joy Division’s “Atmosphere” and Talk Talk’s “Such A Shame.”

Their third album, “Spooky Obsessions“, arrived on September 30, 2016 through Manic Depression Records. In a review we described it as “an interesting production for adapting good-old new-wave standards into a very own and contemporary format.” The band then self-released “The bonds should be only silver threads” on May 14, 2018 and returned with “Fading” on May 18, 2020 through Manic Depression and Icy Cold Records.

Later singles included “Blood Calls Blood” on March 17, 2023 and “Jackie’s Curse” on January 5, 2024. Earlier this year they released the album “F.I.V.E.”.

When I discovered Blac Kolor’s debut album “Wide Noise” in 2014, I immediately knew that this project, driven by Hendrick Grothe, carried something special. Over the years, this German sound architect has built a reputation within a select circle of Electro enthusiasts in search of innovation and, above all, originality. Blac Kolor has always blended a wide range of influences. Whether you call it IDM, Industrial-Techno, EBM, or even Trance, this artist moves fluidly between styles, reshaping them into something uniquely his own.

At the end of 2025, Ant-Zen released the sixth Blac Kolor studio album – excluding remix albums – “Arca”. Once again, it hits the mark: an intelligent Electro production with a menacing atmosphere, driven by magical analog textures and powerful bass lines. It was the direct inspiration for this interview with someone I consider to be one of the greatest geniuses of his genre and his generation. (Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Blac Kolor interview

Q: What was the basis for the new Blac Kolor album “Arca”? Did the music come first, or were you influenced by a specific theme or concept that you then built upon?

Hendrick: “Arca” can be understood more or less as a successor to my penultimate album “Weltenbrand”. For me, the two albums are closely intertwined thematically. “Arca” continues the fundamental critique of human behavior that was already at the heart of “Weltenbrand,” but adds the element of hope.

“Weltenbrand” concludes with the statement that it’s all too late, nothing can be saved, everything has been said… and that’s exactly how I felt back then. However, I didn’t want to simply accept that and wanted to add something positive to the story –the element of hope. Tracks like “Lake Of Sunken Worries” and “Fragile Moments” were already written during the “Weltenbrand” period and then laid the foundation for “Arca.”

Q: Would it be fair to describe “Arca” as a conceptual Blac Kolor album, using the so-called biblical plagues as a metaphor for contemporary society? Can you explain what the album is about in more detail, how this idea came about, and what it reflects about your personal view of the world today?

Hendrick: Absolutely. “Arca” is a concept album through and through. As I mentioned before, I wanted to give the whole thing a hopeful feel. The ark as a symbol of hope and salvation was relatively easy to find, and from the image of an ark, it wasn’t a big leap to the Ten Biblical Plagues, which I’d always wanted to use as a concept container.

Each of the original plagues was intended to serve as a kind of template for a characteristic or a dark side of human existence. Themes like Fear, Violence, Hate, but also Greed and Technology were processed and squeezed into the concept of the Ten Plagues. However, the intro track, “Lake Of Sunken Worries,” deliberately breaks with this idea. The piece symbolically represents hope and is meant to reflect the positive overall tone.

The message is, ‘We may have destroyed everything, but we also have it in our own hands to make sure everything turns out alright in the end’. WE ARE THE ARK.

The blood-red cover artwork (red in reference to the first biblical plague, ‘blood’) is by no means destructive or negative, but rather intended to convey peace and hope, encouraging us to always live self-reflectively and responsibly. All in all, yet another great contradiction in terms. As is so often the case with Blac Kolor.

Q: What triggered or influenced you musically during the making of “Arca”, and how do you feel this Blac Kolor album compares to your previous work?

Hendrick: The goal is clear: each new release should be better than the previous one. Whether that’s the case or not is up to each listener and fan to decide. I think “Arca” is perhaps a bit more mature or grown-up than its predecessors. But the comparison is really, really difficult. I definitely didn’t want to repeat myself, yet still remain true to the typical Blac Kolor sound. Musically speaking, I was clearly guided by the happy accidents I encountered while working with my modular systems. That’s for sure.

The challenge was finding sounds that were unconventional, fresh, and bold on the one hand, and yet still had a certain catchiness on the other. But it’s also a fact that “Arca” is the album with the most EBM of them all. I personally think that the EBM genre never really fit the description of the Blac Kolor world, but there are a suspiciously large number of EBM basslines on it. Not very fresh and not very bold, you might think. But maybe I also wanted to appeal to some extent. To myself, for example.

Q: Looking back, what will you remember most about the composition and production process of “Arca”? What were the most difficult moments or challenges along the way? And eventually the innovations?

Hendrick: The most difficult part of the production was deciding how wild and unhinged certain elements could be. When does a track still work, and when does the perception become jarring because the elements are too wild? Evaluating the aforementioned random results from the modular synths and integrating them sensibly into the production from a mixing perspective was the most complicated part.

Furthermore, this time it was really difficult to decide which tracks would make it onto the album and which wouldn’t. Ten was the conceptual limit, but I had at least three times that many to choose from. Creating a cohesive listening experience and a cohesive sonic journey from that was also very challenging.

But I would never call myself ‘innovative’. If that’s the case, let others do it. I have only one simple rule: if it sounds like something that’s already been done somewhere before, by me or anyone else, then it gets deleted immediately. I think this filtering process works very well because Blac Kolor songs are many things, but certainly not ordinary or familiar.

Q: It’s safe to say you have a strong passion for vintage analog synths and machines. Where did this fascination originate, which machines are your favorites, and are there any others you’re still hoping to add to your collection?

Hendrick:Oh, this topic is very, very tedious. I somehow stepped down the ‘Eurorack rabbit hole’ and I’ll never find my way out. It’s both a blessing and a curse. There’s little rational explanation for it. Modular synthesizers are simply my path. But I try to keep my production methods open to all kinds of sources. I also use quite a lot of software in parallel. But the most fun is always the search for the next crazy sample.

I spend a lot of time in front of the modular system, running all sorts of things through the patch paths and waiting for the unexpected. My favorite machines change very frequently and quite quickly, though. If I were to name-drop something right now, I’d mention the Antilope from Manifold Research Centre or the Steampipe from Erica Synths. Crazy pieces of equipment with a lot of unpredictability.

I’ve stopped putting specific instruments on a wishlist, following the ‘must-have’ pattern. I see gear collecting as a kind of addiction, and desire and addiction satisfaction are two different things. Unfortunately, I think I’ll buy my future favorite in the next few weeks.

Q: Artificial intelligence is increasingly entering the world of music, which—at least on the surface—seems at odds with artists like you who are deeply involved in sound design and hands-on creation. What is your perspective on this development, and how do you see it evolving in the future?

Hendrick:I think we should take a closer look at the intended use of AI before making any distinctions. AI as support software in production processes will definitely prevail, as it saves time and money in achieving the desired result. No one will be able to escape these efficiency tools. And no one will later ask, ‘Did AI mix and master this’? No one will care anymore. For manufacturers, this means that the market is in flux. Customers will expect to benefit from the potential savings and demand more performance for less money. The pressure will increase on those who accept contract work.

From an artistic perspective, I don’t think AI will play a role anytime soon. An artist is so much more than just their musical output. People are interested in people, in stories, and the emotions behind them. Machines will have a very hard time here, even in the future. I find it difficult to imagine us eagerly awaiting the new album from AI XYZ, ordering a signed vinyl, and securing tickets for their upcoming show. And I’m sure you’re not exactly thrilled about conducting an interview with an AI tomorrow.

Generated music will continue to exist and will certainly increase significantly. Sooner or later, marketing platforms will have to take a clear stance on this. Bandcamp has already banned AI-generated content, which can be seen as a clear position. But if there are still enough listeners who are satisfied with generated rubbish, AI profiles will also emerge. However, I can’t take any of this seriously, and it doesn’t worry me. With increasing storage capacity, the amount of data clutter also increases. That has always been the case and will remain so. It’s simply a shame about all the energy wasted on such AI.

Q: How important is live performance within the overall Blac Kolor project? How do you prepare for live shows, and what are the biggest challenges when performing on stage?

Hendrick: Live performances are very, very important. I love watching the audience when they’re watching me. I’d love to play much more often. So, all you promoters out there –get in touch!

I also try to give each show its own unique touch. I always prepare new parts for each show and leave plenty of room for improvisation. That’s the only way I can keep it fun for myself. It’s supposed to be fun, not work;-)

The biggest challenges are always technical. Some piece of equipment is always breaking down, or Ableton Live is acting up. Things like that. The search for the optimal setup is ongoing and not yet complete.

Q: Finally, are you currently working on any new Blac Kolor material, and what are your plans for 2026?

Hendrick: My problem is that I currently have too much new material. Enough for three albums, probably. I’m currently giving it a bit of structure, organizing it, planning releases and finding a home for the material. Everything’s still pretty vague.

But what I can reveal is that there will be at least two more Blac Kolor music videos. I’m really looking forward to that right now. Whether all of this will happen in 2026 or maybe not until 2027, I can’t say yet. I’m definitely not stressing about it. I just let myself drift a bit.

Giorgio Ricci remains a busy bee. Known for his past in Templebeat, he is currently also involved with the successful Post-Punk group They Die and released a brilliant minimalist album with Monosonik last year. Toward the end of that same year, he returned with a new self-released album from Templezone, a project that has already spawned three great albums in the past.

Templezone sounds completely different from his other projects and is often described as a kind of sequel to Templebeat. Apart from a striking similarity in the name, however, the music diverges significantly. Ricci builds on a solid Techno foundation, reinforced with elements of EBM and touches of Trance. The album is an explosive, club-oriented work that is impossible to remain indifferent to. The dark atmosphere he injects throughout makes it both accessible and engaging for a wider audience. The tracks are carefully crafted and occasionally enhanced with distorted spoken samples. Some passages take on a rhythmic Cinematic quality, while others lean more toward Psy-Trance.

Productions like this inevitably attract the comment that they are too Techno for an EBM audience and too dark—or too EBM—for a Techno audience. For me, however, it’s purely about the music and its impact, and in that respect, this record is nothing short of a sonic orgasm. Giorgio Ricci is above all a true musical genius in everything he gets involved in.  (Rating:9).

Listen to “Extreme”:

https://templezone.bandcamp.com/track/deadline

With Years Of Shame, the established Icy Cold Records welcomes a new French duo.

The debut album features eight tracks that immediately lead us down a familiar Dark-Wave path. There is a well-balanced interplay between the guitar, which provides the necessary sense of sorrow and melancholy, and the keyboards, which add an extra, layer of atmosphere—sometimes icy—while also reinforcing the melodic structure. The vocals can sound somewhat sterile at times, yet they also carry a certain sensuality, forming a fitting complement to the music.

Years Of Shame may not bring anything radically new to the genre, but they will undoubtedly resonate with Post-Punk fans thanks to a number of particularly strong tracks. (Rating:7½).

Listen to “Heat”:

https://icycoldrecords.bandcamp.com/track/heat-3

(By Janos Janurik) Following recent misleading reports suggesting the end of Erasure, it has been officially clarified that Vince Clarke and Andy Bell continue to work together on new material. The duo is currently in the studio and already discussing possible touring scenarios for the upcoming release. While concrete details are still under wraps, one thing is certain: Erasure are far from finished. In the meantime, the spotlight shifts to Vince Clarke himself – with a comprehensive remix collection highlighting a different side of his work.

About ‘Remix/Remodel – The Vince Clarke Remixes’

If there is one name synonymous with the history of synth-pop, it is Vince Clarke. As a founding member of Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and Erasure, he has shaped generations of electronic music fans.

With “Remix/Remodel – The Vince Clarke Remixes”, he now turns the focus to a facet of his career that often remains in the background: his work as a remixer.

This double CD collection brings together 26 remixes Clarke has created over the years for a wide range of artists – all personally selected for this official release. Rather than a simple retrospective, the compilation offers a deeper look into his production style beyond his own projects.

The album will be released on June 26, 2026 via Cherry Red Records.

Among the highlights:

• many of these remixes are available on physical format for the first time 
• the cover features Clarke’s cat Smudge, photographed by the artist himself 
• liner notes are provided by music writer Richard Evans 

The collection spans an impressive range of collaborators, including Depeche Mode, OMD, Johnny Marr, Saint Etienne, Soft Cell, and Happy Mondays.

A particularly notable inclusion is the previously unreleased “Isolation (Vince Clarke Remix)” by Abazaba feat. Gogol Bordello, a reinterpretation of the classic by Joy Division.

Of course, with a catalogue as extensive as Clarke’s, fans may find themselves wishing for additional selections – such as remixes for Nitzer Ebb or Polly Scattergood. Still, the final tracklist presents a compelling and well-balanced overview of his remix work.

‘Remix/Remodel – The Vince Clarke Remixes’ tracklist:

Disc One

1. Happy Mondays – W.F.L. (Vince Clarke Remix)
2. Chad Valley – Up & Down (Vince Clarke Remix)
3. The Saturdays – Issues (Vince Clarke Club Mix)
4. Blossoms – To Do List (After The Breakup) feat. Findlay (Vince Clarke Remix)
5. Johnny Marr – Spirit Power And Soul (Vince Clarke Remix)
6. James Yorkston – A Moment Longer feat. Nina Persson (Vince Clarke Remix)
7. YOVA – Rain (Vince Clarke Remix)
8. Soft Cell – Bedsitter (Erasure Remix)
9. A Place To Bury Strangers – In Your Heart (Vince Clarke Remix)
10. Bleachers – I Wanna Get Better (Vince Clarke Remix)
11. Andy Bell – Dance For Mercy (Vince Clarke Remix)
12. Hifi Sean & David McAlmont – Real Thoughts In Real Time (Vince Clarke Remix)
13. Dido – End of Night – (Vince Clarke Remix)

Disc Two

1. Depeche Mode – Behind The Wheel (Vince Clarke Remix)
2. Fujiya & Miyagi – Fear Of Missing Out (Vince Clarke Remix)
3. Franz Ferdinand – No You Girls (Vince Clarke Remix)
4. Abazaba feat. Gogol Bordello – Isolation (Vince Clarke Remix)
5. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Almost (Vince Clarke Remix)
6. James Yorkston – Shallow (Vince Clarke Remix)
7. Saint Etienne – Blue Kite (Vince Clarke Remix)
8. Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development – A Shared Sense Of Purpose (Vince Clarke Remix)
9. Future Islands – Doves (Vince Clarke Remix)
10. Reed & Caroline – Electrons (Vince Clarke Remix)
11. Dubfire & Miss Kittin – Ride (Vince Clarke Remix)
12. Alka – Faito (Vince Clarke Remix)
13. VCMG – Aftermaths (Vince Clarke Remix)

With “Remix/Remodel – The Vince Clarke Remixes”, attention turns once again to a sometimes overlooked yet essential aspect of Vince Clarke’s work: his role as a remixer. The collection demonstrates just how timeless and adaptable his sound remains across different artists and eras – and why his influence on electronic pop music continues to resonate today.

“Remix/Remodel – The Vince Clarke Remixes” will be released on June 26, 2026 as a special 2-CD set via Cherry Red Records and is available for pre-order now at Lexer Music. Additional retailers, including Cherry Red, will follow in the coming days.

(Interview by Janos Janurik) After seven years, The Twilight Sad return with their most personal album to date – shaped by loss, resilience, and a deep creative bond with Robert Smith.

After a seven-year absence, The Twilight Sad return with It’s The Long Goodbye – an album born out of personal loss, mental health struggles, and the quiet strength it takes to carry on when life becomes overwhelming.

At its core lies a deeply human story. Frontman James Graham processes the illness and passing of his mother, while guitarist and producer Andy MacFarlane crafts a sonic landscape that moves between fragile intimacy and towering emotional intensity. The result is arguably the The Twilight Sad’s most direct and vulnerable work to date – less metaphor, more truth.

The new The Twilight Sad album was written over several years, with ideas exchanged during lockdown and gradually taking shape. A key figure in this process was Robert Smith of The Cure, who contributed not only musically but also creatively from an early stage – offering feedback, encouragement, and ultimately performing on multiple tracks.

It’s The Long Goodbye is also about endurance, connection, and the strange duality of darkness and light that defines both life and music.

We spoke with The Twilight Sadabout influences, grief, collaboration, and the realities of being an independent artist in 2026.

Interview with The Twilight Sad

Q: Listening to the new The Twilight Sad album, I was struck by how strongly it captures the atmosphere of classic dark alternative and post-punk music. At times it reminded me of the spirit of bands such as Joy Division, The Mission, The Sisters of Mercy, and from a later generation groups like Editors or Cold Cave. When you first started making music, which artists had the biggest influence on you?

Andy MacFarlane: When we first started we were mixing a lot of stuff together, like Sonic Youth, The Cure, Wire, The Flaming Lips, Mogwai, Arab Strap, Pavement, Daniel Johnston, Factory Records etc. We weren’t deliberately trying to sound like a particular band or genre, it was more like we were trying to be the thread that joined all our influences together.

Q: To me, Waiting For The Phone Call feels like one of the strongest songs on the album. If I were a radio DJ, it would definitely be in heavy rotation. It is also your first single in six years, and it features Robert Smith from The Cure. If you don’t mind revisiting the story: how did this collaboration come about, especially considering that he ended up contributing to several songs on the album?

Andy MacFarlane: Robert was involved at the early stages of writing the album, we’d send him demos and he’d give us feedback and suggestions. We had a night in a London Studio, with Robert and Mike Hedges, going through the demos. Robert was playing my acoustic guitar, and said he wanted to play guitar on the album, so I kept reminding/annoying him every week until we recorded the album.

Q: The Twilight Sad has previously toured with The Cure, and you will also be performing with them again this year. What was your reaction to their recent Grammy recognition? Do you think darker alternative music like the kind you create receives enough attention in today’s music landscape, or could moments like this help bring more focus to the genre?

James Graham: We’ve never been part of the music world when it comes to Awards or Award Ceremony’s. It’s just not something that’s entered our worlds or is something that we strive for. The biggest award in music is the people who you create a community with and come to the gigs/connect with your music. The Cure’s last album was a masterpiece and so inspirational for anyone like me. I don’t know what awards it received but it deserves all of the awards. When you receive a message or email from someone that says “this album helped me through something or made me see I’m not alone” that is the biggest award in the music industry. Real music will always reach the right people if it wins awards or not.

Q: The press material mentions that the album was deeply influenced by the illness and passing of your mother. In some ways this echoes the personal losses that Robert Smith has also processed through his music. Have you ever spoken with him about dealing with grief through songwriting, or does your relationship mostly stay within the musical sphere?

James Graham: We’ve spoken about all things life & death and everything about our music/how his music has inspired us to do what we do. When we would hang out after the gigs we’d just speak about the gig that night, the crowd, bands we loved, bands we didn’t love. It was just like being backstage with numerous bands over the years, but obviously completely different and completely amazing to be with someone we both love and respect. He’s our friend and then you talk about the important things in life with true friends and he is very much an amazing friend.

Q: One thing that really struck me in an interview was the idea that this new The Twilight Sad album came partly from the need to appear strong in situations where you don’t actually feel strong. While listening to Back To Fourteen, I was reminded of how, as teenagers, darker and melancholic themes in music can feel strangely romantic – but later in life, when personal loss becomes real, those same themes take on a very different meaning. Has your own relationship with darker music changed over the years in a similar way?

James Graham: I still tend to gravitate toward the darker side of art, music, film but since being very ill with my mental health, I have started to lean into things that make me happy. My children are giving me a second childhood in a way, discovering things through their eyes is a beautiful thing. I love dark arty kind of movies but I also love big stupid blockbuster movies. I love escapism, being able to get out of your own head and disappear into different worlds and adventures is something I truly love. I also love good pop music, I think writing a good pop song is probably one of the hardest things to do in music it’s something I haven’t done or attempted yet. I think it’s more of a balance now, I’ve let the dark in for so many years that I think it’s time to let some of the light in.

Q: One of the darkest and most melancholic moments on the album for me is Dead Flowers. Do you see it in any way as a tribute to the masters of melancholic alternative music, perhaps even artists like The Cure?

Andy MacFarlane: There’s definitely a lot of similarities with The Cure on this song, I’ve got their back catalogue imprinted in my brain through all the gigs we’ve played together, so it comes out in our music sometimes. It was all based around the drum pattern, I wanted to give it a lot of space, and once I had the bass line it came together very quickly, the guitar/synth melodies were improvised in a couple of takes when I was demoing it.

Q: If I had to choose another potential single from the album, Inhospitable/Hospital would definitely be one of my picks. Do you have personal favourite tracks from the album yourselves?

James Graham: Get Away From It All is the first song I remember writing for the album. It encapsulates everything that I was feeling at the time of writing it and musically I love what Andy created.

Q: The Twilight Sad will be touring across the UK and Europe this spring, followed by several shows as special guests of The Cure during the summer. Among the upcoming concerts, the three shows at Berlin’s Wuhlheide seem particularly exciting. Are there specific cities or venues on this tour that you are especially looking forward to?

James Graham: I’m really looking forward to all our German dates. Germany has really embraced what we do since our first album. Berlin is a city with such a rich musical history, I can’t wait for our own gig and the 3 nights with The Cure in the summer. There isn’t a gig that I’m not looking forward to, though, I can’t wait to be in a room with like minded emotional people. Our hometown gigs at The Glasgow Barrowlands will be incredibly special. The Barrowlands is the best venue in the world and my mother’s grandfather helped lay the famous wooden dance floor many many years ago so I have some family history inside that building.

Q: The album title It’s The Long Goodbye carries a very strong emotional weight. What does that phrase mean to you personally?

James Graham: Anyone who has experienced dementia in someone they love or any of the other horrific degenerative diseases out there they will know that you say goodbye to the person you love so many times before they leave, hence The Long Goodbye.

Q: This is the first The Twilight Sad album in seven years. What has changed the most for you as musicians during that time?

James Graham: It’s harder to tour, everything is going up in price and the artists are the ones that suffer because the price of things go up but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the artists fees are going up as well, I’m pretty sure across all types of music it’s the same story. Streaming, a great thing for consumers but again artists suffer, people seem to be ok spending £5 on a coffee that lasts for minutes but not £8-10 on an album that will be with you for the rest of your life. Vinyl sales are up because of big pop stars, which is amazing, but that success and momentum isn’t as true in the independent market which desperately needs a boost. I think we’re losing a lot of talented people to other professions because there’s no clear way of making a career out of being an artist. Artists need to be nurtured and given time to develop. Just look at us..6 albums in 20 years and it’s still a daily battle to keep this alive.

Editor’s note: With ‘It’s The Long Goodbye’, The Twilight Sad have created more than just another album, it handles survival, friendship, and emotional honesty. It’s also a reminder that even in the darkest moments, music can still offer connection – and, sometimes, a way forward.

The Twilight Sad – Headline shows

The live lineup shown in 2026 includes Simone Butler on bass and Cat Myers on drums.

• 12.04. IT-Mailand, Legend Club
• 14.04. CH-Zürich, Bogen F15.04. München, Ampere16.04. Berlin, Gretchen, Gretchen18.04. DK-Kopenhagen, Loppen
• 19.04. NO-Oslo, Parkteateret
• 20.04. SE-Stockholm, Slaktkyrkan
• 22.04. Hamburg, Grünspan23.04. NL-Utrecht, Tivolivredenburg Pandora Hall
• 25.04. Köln, Gebäude 926.04. BE-Brüssel, Rotonde – Botanique
• 27.04. FR–Paris, Le Trabendo
• 29.04. UK-Bristol, Electric Bristol
• 30.04. UK-London, Roundhouse
• 02.05. UK-Manchester, New Century Hall
• 03.05. UK-Newcastle upon Tyne, Boiler Shop
• 05.05. UK-Glasgow, Barrowlands
• 06.05. UK-Glasgow, Barrowlands
• 09.05. IE-Dublin, Button Factory
• 24.07. UK-Deer Shed Festival

On tour with The Cure:14.06. IT-Florenz, Visarno Arena

• 24.06. UK-Cardiff, Blackweir Fields
• 26.06. IE-Dublin, Marley Park
• 28.06. NI-Belfast, Belsonic
• 08.07. SK-Pohoda festival
• 10.07. Berlin, Wuhlheide11.07. Berlin, Wuhlheide12.07. Berlin, Wuhlheide

About The Twilight Sad

The Twilight Sad are a Scottish post-punk and indie rock band from Kilsyth, Lanarkshire, formed in 2003. The group was founded by James Graham and Andy MacFarlane and is now centered on that duo, with Graham on vocals and lyrics and MacFarlane on guitar, instrumentation, and songwriting.

They first released the EP “The Twilight Sad” in 2006, then followed with the studio albums “Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters” (2007), “Forget the Night Ahead” (2009), “No One Can Ever Know” (2012), “Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave” (2014), and “It Won/t Be Like This All the Time” (2019). The band released music through Fat Cat Records until 2018, then moved to Rock Action Records.

In 2025, The Twilight Sad became a duo, and in 2026 they returned with their sixth studio album, “It’s the Long Goodbye”, released on March 27 through Rock Action Records.

SINE (aka Rona Rougeheart) released the single “Cruel” today April 3 via Metropolis Records. The track previews “La Mordre“, the first full-length album for the project since signing to Metropolis Records. “La Mordre” will be out on May 22 in digital, CD, and LP formats.

The song follows the earlier album previews “Trauma Bondage”, “Succumb To Me” and “Blood + Wine”, all of which are included on “La Mordre”.

Rougeheart described “Cruel” as a song “about people who purposefully choose to be cruel to others. The words are both sarcastic and serious and I like the contrast of the lyrical content against the upbeat nature of the music, which otherwise makes it a fun dance track.”

The album is up for pre-order on Bandcamp as digital, CD, and vinyl.

About SINE

SINE is the Austin, Texas project created by singer and drummer Rona Rougeheart. Rougeheart started SINE in 2016 as an electronic band.

Rougeheart’s first full-length under the SINE name was “INSOMNIÆ”, released on January 11, 2019. That was followed by “Injected” on November 1, 2019. In 2021 she released “Desire, Denial and Paramania”, an 11-track set that pulled together earlier material and collaborations with Chris Connelly and Curse Mackey, plus remixes by Meat Beat Manifesto and NITE.

In 2022, SINE released “Mantis 1” on May 6, followed by the “Mantis 2” EP on August 26 and “Until (Clan of Xymox Remix)” on October 14. In 2023, Rougeheart issued “Find Me” with Sasha Darko and released “From Beyond” featuring Claus Larsen of Leaether Strip. The 2024 album “Luxuria” was produced by Claus Larsen and released in digital, CD, and vinyl formats before Rougeheart moved on to Metropolis Records and issued “Trauma Bondage” in September 2024.

In 2019, Rougeheart opened for Bauhaus in Orlando, which later led to David J bringing her into Shiva Saves. Over time she has also worked with Adrian Sherwood, Chris Connelly, Mark Pistel, Clan of Xymox, Meat Beat Manifesto, Andee Blacksugar, Xiu Xiu, and Mark Stewart.

After the Metropolis signing in 2024, SINE returned with “Succumb To Me” on September 26, 2025 and “Blood + Wine” on February 27, 2026, leading to “Cruel” and now “La Mordre”.

British alternative electronic duo Mesh opened “The Truth Doesn’t Matter” Tour 2026 on April 2 with a sold-out show at Kulttempel in Oberhausen. The run follows the March 27 release of “The Truth Doesn’t Matter” via Dependent Records, with the next stop scheduled for Berlin’s Huxleys on April 3.

The 16-track release includes the singles “Exile“, “Hey Stranger“, and “This World“, plus “Bury Me Again” featuring Mari Kattman.

“The Truth Doesn’t Matter” is available digitally on Bandcamp and in CD, 48-page artbook 2CD, and gatefold 2LP editions. However the gatefold 2LP and deluxe box/artbook configurations are sold out.

Mesh 2026 ‘The Truth Doesn’t Matter’ tour

Mesh will support the album with an extensive European and UK tour in 2026 under the same title. The first leg in April covers Germany and the Czech Republic, with shows in Oberhausen, Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig, Prague, Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne and Hannover. The band then move to the UK in May for concerts in Bristol, London and Sheffield, followed by Scandinavian dates in Malmö, Gothenburg and Copenhagen, a summer open-air appearance in Taunton, and an additional date in Liberec in November.

• 03 Apr 2026 – Berlin, Huxleys, Germany
• 04 Apr 2026 – Hamburg, Docks, Germany
• 05 Apr 2026 – Leipzig, Felsenkeller, Germany
• 06 Apr 2026 – Prague, Lucerna Music Bar, Czech Republic
• 08 Apr 2026 – Munich, Backstage, Germany
• 09 Apr 2026 – Frankfurt am Main, Batschkapp, Germany
• 10 Apr 2026 – Cologne, Carlswerk Victoria, Germany
• 11 Apr 2026 – Hanover, Pavillon, Germany
• 01 May 2026 – Bristol, Trinity, UK
• 02 May 2026 – London, 229 Club, UK
• 03 May 2026 – Sheffield, Corporation, UK
• 14 May 2026 – Malmö, Plan B, Sweden
• 15 May 2026 – Gothenburg, Musikens Hus, Sweden
• 16 May 2026 – Copenhagen, Viften, Denmark
• 30 Aug 2026 – Taunton, Electric Summer, UK

About Mesh

Mesh are a British electronic alternative duo from Bristol, England, formed in 1991 by vocalist and guitarist Mark Hockings and keyboardist, guitarist and backing vocalist Richard Silverthorn, with Neil Taylor joining on keyboards in the early years. The creative split developed early: Silverthorn composes most of the music, while Hockings writes the lyrics and handles lead vocals. The trio first signed to Swedish label Memento Materia and issued the EP “Fragile” in 1994, followed by the debut album “In This Place Forever” in 1996 and the compilation “Fragmente” in 1998, which gathered early material.

Their second full-length “The Point at Which It Falls Apart” arrived in 1999 and has recently been revisited as a 25th-anniversary hardcover artbook edition. In 2000, the band worked with German producer Mark ’Oh on the single “Waves”, which entered the German charts, before moving to Sony for “Who Watches Over Me?” in 2002.

A run of albums on Dependent Records followed: “We Collide” in 2006, co-produced with Gareth Jones; “A Perfect Solution” in 2009, later reworked as the 2011 remix album “An Alternative Solution”; “Automation Baby” in 2013; and “Looking Skyward” in 2016.

Mesh have also released live recordings such as “On This Tour Forever”, the orchestral-enhanced “Live at Neues Gewandhaus Leipzig”, and the “Touring Skyward – A Tour Movie” set.

Frontman Mark Hockings would later on launch the Blackcarburning project releasing the debut album “Watching Sleepers“.

Today Mesh operate primarily as the Hockings/Silverthorn duo in the studio while expanding to a four-piece live line-up with drummer Sean Suleman and live keyboardist and backing vocalist Vaughn George for concerts and tours.

The 19th Elektrisch Festival will take place on October 24, 2026 at Club Seilerstraße in Zwickau, Germany. The announced line-up features Portion Control, Escalator, Oszylator, Cyborg Projekt X, and KRIEG-B. Organizers describe it as “another sweaty evening,” and tickets are already on sale via Emmo.biz Records.

The announcement also mentions a new 10-inch vinyl sampler in preparation for the event. That release format has become part of the festival’s recent profile, with earlier Elektrisch editions also tied to limited sampler-style vinyl releases.

About Elektrisch Festival

Elektrisch Festival is an annual event at Club Seilerstraße in Zwickau, Germany, focused on EBM, industrial, and dark electro. Organized by Emmobiz Records, it has built a steady profile through theme-based editions and scene-focused line-ups.

The 16th edition took place on October 19, 2024 as an “Exclusive 90’s Edition.” It featured Calva Y Nada, returning to the stage after a 25-year hiatus, alongside Digital Factor and Accessory, both marking 30 years of activity. Other editions have included acts such as Leaether Strip, Tyske Ludder, and Neotek.

The 17th edition followed on October 25, 2025 with Test Dept, NZ, In Strict Confidence, Supreme Court, and To Avoid. The 18th edition expanded to two days on February 27 and 28, 2026. The Friday program focused on synthpop with Purwien / Kowa and Blind Passenger, while the Saturday bill centered on EBM and electro with Brenal, Tyske Ludder, Prager Handgriff, and The Psychic Force.

The 19th Elektrisch Festival now returns to Club Seilerstraße on October 24, 2026 with a new five-act line-up.

Portland’s (excellent!) dark alternative trio Darkswoon have shared “Antivenom,” the second single and title track from their new album of the same name. “Antivenom” follows the earlier single “Thread.” The 10-song record is out now via Viasonde. The current lineup consists of Jana Cushman, Rachel Ellis, and Norah Lynn.

The album is out as a digital release, a 6-panel digipak CD, and a clear pink-and-white splatter vinyl edition. Both physical formats come in an edition of 250. , and an official video for “Antivenom” is available as well. The band will give an April 4 release show at Mississippi Studios in Portland and an April 18 date at Add-a-ball in Seattle.

The title track is available now as an official video, while the album can be ordered through Bandcamp and Viasonde’s store.

About Darkswoon

Darkswoon began in Portland in 2014 as Jana Cushman’s solo project and later expanded into a trio with Rachel Ellis on synths, keys, and beats and Norah Lynn on bass. The group developed a dark alternative sound rooted in darkwave, post-punk, dream pop, shoegaze, and electronic music, combining layered electronics, atmospheric guitar, drum machines, and Cushman’s vocals.

Thir release run began with “Year One” in 2015 and “Silhouettes” in 2016, before Darkswoon moved into full-length territory with “Bind” in 2019. That release was followed by “Human Faults Remixed” later the same year, then the “Eaten By Wolves” EP and the album “Bloom//Decay” in 2022. In 2025, the band also appeared as remixers on Vague Lanes’ single “Heptahedron.”

“Bind” and “Bloom//Decay” were released via Icy Cold Records, while “Antivenom” was issued by Viasonde in April 2026. Presented as the band’s fourth album, “Antivenom” continues Darkswoon’s hardware-based approach while foregrounding themes of loss, anxiety, fear, and inequality.

Divider release the 12-track album “Zero” today, April 3, via Re:Mission Entertainment. The Riverside- and Los Angeles-based EBM project releases the record as a limited digipak CD of 100 copies, as a digital release on Bandcamp, and as a lathe-cut vinyl edition through ElasticStage. “Zero” features 12 tracks and is the work of Bryon Wilson on programming and synths, Peter Beal on programming and vocals, with mastering by Krischan Jan-Eric Wesenberg / Wessenberg.

The album follows two Re:Mission releases that led into it. “Artifacts” came out on July 12, 2024, with remixes by Primitive, DvDSX, Hex Wolves, and Snowbeasts. “Reciprocate” followed on March 14, 2025, with remixes by Daniel Myer, Caustic, R010R, and A Void Eye, plus a Bandcamp-only cover of Tears for Fears’ “Shout”.

About Divider

Divider is the long-running project of Bryon Wilson. Wilson started the project in the late 1990s, withe first material being released in 1995. Musically the project brings a mix of EBM, industrial, ambient, rhythmic noise and synthpunk.

By the early 2000s, the project was remixing tracks for XP8, Diverje, and Regenerator. Wilson later released work through Basic Unit Productions, including the 2013 EP “Minimal Distraction” under the stylised name Div|der and the 2017 six-track 12-inch “Europäisch-Amerikanische Freundschaft”, which was mixed and mastered by Sid Lamar. The band also appeared on Basic Unit Productions compilations including “Frost Vol. 2” in 2014 and “Frost Vol. III” in 2018.

In 2023, Wilson opened his archives with the retrospective digital sets “The Early Years: 1995 – 2012 Volume 1”, “Divider: The Early Years Volume 2 – 2000 – 2012”, “The Early Years: Volume 3 – Noises and Experiments”, and “The Early Years: Volume 4 – Strange Melodies and Experiments”. Divider also remixed material on Snog’s 2017 release “Corporate Slave 2525”.

Besides Dibider Wilson also worked on side-projects. Emergency Sequence for instance, was Wilson’s project with John Mirland.

In 2024 Peter Beal joined Divider on vocals and programming for “Artifacts”. That same lineup continues on “Zero”, with Wilson handling synths and programming and Beal handling programming and vocals.

Vikowski began as a solo project founded by Italian artist Vincenzo Coppeta and has since evolved into a trio, releasing its official debut album on Icy Cold Records earlier this year.

The album features eight tracks that are clearly rooted in Dark-Wave. The opening track feels like a warm-up, somewhat reminiscent of The Virgin Prunes. As the album unfolds, we encounter slower compositions in which the guitar establishes a distinct, melancholic atmosphere. It is the guitar that truly carries the spirit of the record.

At times, this melancholy drifts into much darker territories, occasionally echoing the sound of Joy Division.

While I wouldn’t say the entire album fully convinces me, there are nevertheless a few genuine gems to be discovered on “Consistency”. (Rating:7).

Listen to “Dedication”:

https://icycoldrecords.bandcamp.com/track/dedication

Two years ago, Bart Piette (Deadman’s Hill) released the debut album “Devotional Hymns To A Brilliant Flaming Sun” with his side project Brotherhood Of Sleep. Now he returns with a follow-up, created in collaboration with Zazen Sounds. The concept revolves around an Astral Temple that feeds on the immense energy of a Violet Sun, whose rays continuously activate the crystals and skulls within the temple, sustaining them in their highest and most powerful energetic state.

While the concept may initially be somewhat difficult to grasp, the music itself provides clarity. A coherent thread runs through the five tracks, each unfolding in a gradual and immersive progression. The overall atmosphere remains restrained, yet a distinct Ritual aesthetic quickly emerges—dark, at times unsettling, and even ominous. Ritual chants and carefully placed percussion further enhance both the character and the atmosphere. The album draws the listener into an imagined trance, creating the sensation of being part of the ritual taking place within the temple. Bart Piette demonstrates a clear mastery in building this immersive experience—perhaps with the exception of the final track, which, to my ears, feels slightly less compelling than the rest. Nevertheless, he brings all his knowledge and experience to the forefront. The combination of acoustic instruments and electronic elements, supported by essential vocal contributions, makes this album a compelling and rewarding listen.

As an artist, Bart Piette has nothing left to prove; to my ears, he remains a guarantee of high-quality Ritual music made in Belgium. (Rating:8½).

Listen to “Aligning With The Nuummite Cosmos”:

https://zazensoundspublishings.bandcamp.com/track/aligning-with-the-nuummite-cosmos

London electro-industrial act Dogtablet (Martin King of Test Dept and Pigface) will release the digital single “These Days” on April 3, 2026 via the GIVE/TAKE label. But today you can already exclusively check out the four-track release on Side-Line. The single includes the title track, plus remixes of the track by GIVE/TAKE labelmate Cellmod and 2Bit Heroes (Jules Seifert of Der Prosector), plus “Like Tears In Rain” featuring Yvette Winkler in a remix by California’s queer darkscene act Probe 7.

Note that while Dogtablet usually work with guest vocalists, “These Days” now features King on vocals. He also wrote, produced, engineered, and mixed the release completely himself this time.

Dogtablet was created by King after Test Dept ended, initially as a production company. King had been active in London since the mid-1980s, joined Test Dept in 1990, and later toured with Pigface after Test Dept’s Invisible Records period.

The single was recorded at HoundSound in London, and mastered by Jules Seifert at Epic Audio Media.

The full-length “Designed To Fade” will follow on May 1, 2026 on CD and digital via GIVE/TAKE.

About Dogtablet

The project’s first release was “Outlaws & Strays” on July 7, 2017 and “Double Thirty” on November 30, 2018. That was followed by “Feathers & Skin” on December 9, 2019, “Pearldrop Blue” on May 6, 2021, the remix EP “TJY4” on January 14, 2022, and “Ashes” on October 7, 2022. A 2CD edition pairing “Feathers & Skin” and “Pearldrop Blue” was issued by Distortion Productions in 2022.

Dogtablet then released “Black Space Dust & Memories” on May 5, 2023, followed by “The Summertime EP” on November 10, 2023 and “Six Lives” on July 12, 2024. In October 2024, the band issued “Seven Streets Down,” which was presented there as the first single from “Designed To Fade.” Yvette Winkler, who appears on the new single, is also one half of the Dutch act Vaselyne.

Martin King and Roberto Soave form the core of Dogtablet, with Jared Louche being a recurring Dogtablet collaborator. For the new 2026 single “These Days”, Martin King was writer, performer, producer, engineer, and mixer.

Spanish futurepop/electropop act Culture Kultür have returned with the single “Atomic Radio“, ahead of the studio album “Atomic”, which is scheduled for June 6 via Caustic Records. The upcoming record is the project’s first full studio album since “Humanity” released in 2019, following the 2025 vinyl compilation “Time”.

Caustic Records will present the launch concert for Culture Kultür’s new album “Atomic” on June 6, the same day as the album’s official release. During the event, attendees will be able to buy the new album in advance at the label’s stand. Physical tickets for this event will be available soon at RARA AVIS, while online tickets are already available via Entradium.com.

The show will also mark the exclusive Spanish live premiere of “Atomic”, giving the audience the first chance to hear the new material on stage alongside songs from the band’s back catalog.

Caustic Records will release more details on edition formats, exclusive content, and preorder dates in the coming days.

About Culture Kultür

Culture Kultür was formed in Málaga, Spain, in 1992 with Salva Maine on vocals, Josua on programming and production, and Distortiongirl as live keyboardist.

Before the Out Of Line years, the project released the “F.T.W.” EP in 1993, “Spike” and “Rev.-Time” in 1996, “Default” in 1997, and the album “Bump!” in 1998.

1999 marked a turning point as Salva Maine joined as permanent vocalist, and the band issued “Manifesto”, “Reflex”, and “DNA Slaves”. The same year also brought the “Tierra Eléctrica” European tour with Hocico and KIFOTH, later documented on the limited live CD “Tierra Electrica ’99′”.

Other releases that followed include “Revenge” in 2001, “Combat!” in 2002, “Reborn” in 2005, “Spirit” in 2010, and “Humanity” in 2019. In 2025, the trio returned with the limited vinyl compilation “Time” which collected material from their early days in the ’90s up to their most recent work. And now the project is set to follow that release with the new studio album “Atomic” in June 2026.

A newly catalogued file series from the Margrave Institute Archive for Transitional Europe in Westbrück has revived one of underground music’s strangest Cold War theories: that early EBM was part of a covert Western influence program designed to change East German youth culture from within and let them understand the dangers of their political leaders and their ideology. The Stasi reacted by forming its own communist inspired band: Or Two. But that was not really a success as we will show you.

The papers describe a strategy in which music was treated as a behavioural delivery system. The target, according to the files, was a narrow layer of technically minded, style-conscious young people in East-German cities such as Osthafen, Märkstadt, Lindenau-Ost, and Grauenfels. The core assumption behind the program was that direct political messaging triggered resistance. Overt propaganda was easy to identify. But EBM music worked quite differently. They passed through the body first. Meaning followed later.

The program itself appears under several codenames, the most frequently cited being Operation Eisen Echo, Project Nulltakt, and the later Body Vector initiative. Across the documents, analysts claim the genre’s usefulness lay in four overlapping traits: command-based language, repetitive rhythmic structure, uniform visual presentation, and synchronized group movement in controlled social environments. The files describe clubs as “low-visibility response chambers.”

One of the more provocative notes suggests that Western services were a lot less interested in lyrics than in physical response. The body, in this model, became the first site of influence. A listener did not need to understand a message fully. Core was that the message became a habit.

The ploy was a success, by 1989 EBM had became huge in communist Germany and was instrumental in tearing down the Berlin Wall.

The East German countermeasure: Gegenklang

In the same archive, a later section says the East German security apparatus attempted to counter the spread of EBM with its own cultural softening program. The project ran under the internal name Gegenklang, with a sub-unit informally referred to as Lotus Sector. The strategy was to bring a homegrown version of EBM.

State cultural planners commissioned a series of ossi EBM cassette releases, distributed through youth wellness circles, experimental theatre workshops, student meditation groups, and selected “recovery evenings” at cultural houses in Eisenwald, Rosenhagen, and Veltenbruck.

The quality of the EBM presented on the tapes was so bad, nobody took it seriously. Things had to be handled differently so they came up with another idea… Or Two.

Or Two: the communist EBM band the Stasi built

The most ambitious countermeasure described in the files was the creation of a band. In 1984, according to the dossier, the Stasi-backed cultural unit behind Gegenklang approved the launch of a synthetic pop-leaning project called Or Two.

Officially, Or Two was presented as a regular EBM pop trio from Lindenau-Ost. Unofficially, the group’s real purpose was more strategic. The plan was to create an act that could absorb the appeal of EBM while stripping out its aggression and spreading the message of communism.

Or Two was assembled by handlers from the Department for Youth Atmospherics, who recruited a conservatory-trained keyboard player, a former radio choir vocalist, and – surprise, surprise – a political commissar.

Their debut single, “Atmen Im Kreis”, was circulated in late 1984 through student radio, state-approved youth clubs, and subsidized cultural festivals. It was followed by “Stiller Sender” in 1985 and the self-titled album “Or Two” in 1986.

However, the lyrics about how good communism was did not catch on, Several memos in the dossier complain that while they created a perfect copycat, the project had “only achieved visibility but failed in directional containment.” The band would only sell a few hundred copies of their debut album, mostly via obligatory state channels.

By the late 1980s, Or Two disappeared. Rumour has it they later on started up a more Western pop act.

Syrian-Armenian-American singer and producer KÁRYYN has released “END TO KNOWING YOU” as the next preview from “PHYSICS UNIVERSAL LOVE LANGUAGE (PULL)“, the 10-track album which follows on May 29 via Mute on limited white vinyl, CD and digital.

“END TO KNOWING YOU” is a song about attachment, distance and unresolved connection. The video was conceived by KÁRYYN and directed by Jenna Marsh, produced by Black Dog Films, with choreography by Supple Nam and a featured performance by Danni Spooner.

About the KÁRYYN album ‘PHYSICS UNIVERSAL LOVE LANGUAGE (PULL)’

KÁRYYN describes the upcoming album as “not as inquiry but as conclusion rendered in sound” and adds that it “is about the forces that hold us, rearrange us, and pull us back together. It’s a framework for understanding my relationship with Self. This record is the sound of my human revolution.”

The album was produced by KÁRYYN and James Ford, with co-production by Hudson Mohawke, and additional production by Jacques Greene, Steve Nalepa, Luca Perry and Duncan Fuller. Strings were played by Raven Bush, the qanun by Maya Youssef. Finally, the mixing was in the hand of Marta Salogni while the mastering was completed by Joker.

The album can already be pre-ordered through Bandcamp and via Mute’s store. Apple Music and Spotify also carry pre-release pages for the record.

About KÁRYYN

KÁRYYN is a Syrian-Armenian-American singer, producer and composer based in Los Angeles whose work blends experimental electronic music, voice-driven song structures and sound art.

Her debut album “The Quanta Series” was released in March 2019 after a seven-year writing and recording period. The record, issued via her Antevasin imprint in partnership with Mute, traces a personal journey that began in 2011 after the death of two relatives in Aleppo, when she left Los Angeles for Cherry Valley in upstate New York to work in seclusion. During eighteen months there she wrote early material that would become part of the album.

“The Quanta Series” appeared on compact disc and double vinyl via Mute and collected earlier singles and digital tracks including “Aleppo”, “Today, I Read Your Life Story 11:11”, “Ever” and “Mirror Me”. In 2021, she also appeared on Daniel Avery’s “Fountain of Peace” and on Âme’s “The Witness”.

A steady stream of subsequent releases followed, including the 2024 EP “Calm Kaoss!”, the single “Ground” and the compilation “K Á R Y Y N Remixed”, which gathered reworks of pieces from her catalogue.

KÁRYYN’s collaboration history also includes work with James Ford, whose production role continues on “Physics Universal Love Language (PULL)”. We previously covered her activity in the news item KÁRYYN shares Cosey Fanni Tutti remix of ‘the REAL’, which documented the Cosey Fanni Tutti version of her single “the REAL”.

“PHYSICS UNIVERSAL LOVE LANGUAGE (PULL)” now follows as her next album-length release on Mute.

Polish artist Tomasz Łukowicz has released a dozen albums over the course of more than five years under his sonic alter ego, Fractal. His latest production, Hide In The Light, features ten new tracks.

Fractal is not only an extremely prolific artist, but also remarkably creative and talented. His music consistently stays rooted in intelligent and sometimes complex EBM, while also incorporating influences reminiscent of Clock DVA and similar acts. The songs are well-crafted and, despite their rich and expansive soundscapes, remain quite accessible. The album includes a few instrumental passages, but the vocals certainly add an extra dimension to the overall experience. While it may not contain obvious dancefloor hits, it offers a strong collection of refined and sophisticated tracks.

Where Fractal draws his creativity from remains a mystery to me, but one thing is certain: this project has never disappointed and continues to surprise me time and again. (Rating:8).

Listen to “Final Time”:

https://aliensproduction.bandcamp.com/track/final-time

German electro-industrial project Wumpscut and Betonkopf Media, in collaboration with Italian distributor Audioglobe, will issue two limited vinyl editions on 3 April 2026: a light blue LP reissue of the 2005 studio album “Evoke – Provoke” and the new remix double album “Homicide Bajazzo.” Both Wumpscut titles are pressed on 180-gram vinyl in editions of 300 copies.

Wumpscut – ‘Evoke – Provoke’ light blue LP

“Evoke – Provoke” is presented as a single 180-gram light blue LP in a deluxe gatefold sleeve, with a white poly-lined inner sleeve and an A1-sized “Evoke” poster. The edition uses direct metal mastering and comes with a stickered outer sleeve and cello-lined innerbag.

The release marks the first vinyl reissue of Wumpscut’s seventh regular studio album in twenty years. “Evoke” originally appeared on 4 April 2005 via Beton Kopf Media in multiple formats, including CD, 2CD, box set and a white double vinyl edition that bundled extra material and merchandise.

The 2026 LP focuses on the core eleven album tracks including tracks such as “Churist Churist”, “Rush” and “Don’t go,” the latter previously appearing with additional remixes on the US-only EP “Blondi.”

Wumpscut – ‘Homicide Bajazzo’ remix 2LP

“Homicide Bajazzo” arrives as a 2×180-gram black vinyl set, again with direct metal mastering, a 5 mm spine outer sleeve and two separate cello-lined inner sleeves. The edition is also limited to 300 copies worldwide.

The compilation gathers twenty remixes of Wumpscut tracks recorded between 1997 and 2025, drawing on material from albums such as “Böses Junges Fleisch” (also known as “Eevil Young Flesh”) through to the 2025 album “Chew Chew Chew.”

Remix duties are handled by Advent Resilience, Splitter, The Necessary Evil, Cynical Front, Reaktor, Oordrop and others, with several cuts presented in multiple reworked versions.

Tracklist – “Homicide Bajazzo” (2LP)

Side A

• A1 Loyal To My Hate (original mix)
• A2 Du Neger (Advent Resilience remix)
• A3 Silent Running (The Necessary Evil remix)
• A4 Burial On Demand (Splitter remix)
• A5 Measure Of Hope (Cynical Front Floorshow remix)

Side B

• B1 The Show Will Go On (original mix)
• B2 Du Hast Kein Herz (Splitter remix)
• B3 Ich Will Dich (Advent Resilience remix)
• B4 Churist Churist (Recently Deceased remix)
• B5 We Are Immortal (Splitter remix)

Side C

• C1 Das Deutsche Schwert (Advent Resilience remix)
• C2 Du Hast Kein Herz (Splitter remix)
• C3 Tanz Den Tod (Reaktor Totentanz remix)
• C4 Giftkeks (Advent Resilience Mortified remix)
• C5 Tanz Den Tod (Advent Resilience remixu)

Side D

• D1 Killuh (Oordrop remix)
• D2 Killing A Spider (The Necessary Evil MDMA remix)
• D3 Killuh (Advent Resilience remix)
• D4 The Demon Uterus (The Necessary Evil remix)
• D5 Unser Kleiner Weltkrieg (The Necessary Evil remix)

The tracklist highlights the way recent EP material (“Giftkeks”/”Poison Cookie”, “For Those About To Starve”) and album cuts from “Chew Chew Chew” have been re-worked for the dancefloor, aligning with Wumpscut’s long-running DJ-oriented remix practice that dates back to the 1990s.

About Wumpscut

Wumpscut is a German electro-industrial project founded in May 1991 by Bavarian DJ Rudolf “Rudy” Ratzinger, originally based around club work in southern Germany and later associated with Munich and the wider Bavarian scene.

Ratzinger’s early demo “Defcon” (1991) led into the first full-length “Music for a Slaughtering Tribe” in 1993, followed by “Bunkertor 7” in 1995 and “Embryodead” in 1997.

From the mid-1990s onward, he released much of his work through his own label Beton Kopf Media, while Metropolis Records handled several key titles for the US market. Albums such as “Boeses Junges Fleisch” (1999), “Wreath of Barbs” (2001), “Bone Peeler” (2004) and “Evoke” (2005) continued this pattern of parallel European and US editions in CD and vinyl formats.

Later releases extended the catalogue through “Cannibal Anthem” (2006), “Body Census” (2007), “Schädling” (2008), “Fuckit” (2009), “Siamese” (2010), “Schrekk & Grauss” (2011), “Women and Satan First” (2012) and “Madman Szpital” (2013), many of them accompanied by limited box sets and DJ-oriented companion discs.

After the 2014–2015 albums “Bulwark Bazooka” and “BlutSpukerTavern” and the 2016 studio album “Wüterich,” Ratzinger briefly announced an end to new production. But he returned with “Fledermavs 303” in 2021 and a run of EPs and albums including “For Those About To Starve” (2022), “Giftkeks”/”Poison Cookie” (2023), “Schlossgheist” (2024) and “Chew Chew Chew” (2025), many of which were made available via Bandcamp alongside limited physical editions.

The Los Angeles project Holy Sun Opera House has released “Latched On,” the second single from their self-titled debut album which is due on May 15, 2026 via Hologram Opera. The album will be available in vinyl, cassette, CD, and digital formats.

About the track, the band says this: “The song is a depiction of the compulsive psyche as a physical entity residing in The Holy Sun Opera House. The entity is a permanent fixture there, and is relentless. It is endlessly present, awake, and draining. It feeds off the anxiety and grows stronger with each thought. It is truly latched on.”

The album was self-produced and is built around recurring dreams of singer Krissy Barker. The band combines electro, darkwave, and contemporary classical elements. For this track the album is more focused on the classical side of the band.

About Holy Sun Opera House

Holy Sun Opera House is a Los Angeles project built around classically trained soprano and drummer Krissy Barker and composer/music director dl Salo. Barker played with Object as Subject (bass, synth, and vocals), while Salo worked with Saint Genet, Earth and Ceremony, Cowboy Cinema, and A Story of Rats. The latter was a duo with Garek J Druss.

The project’s first recorded release was the two-track “Attic EP,” a two-track single issued on December 9, 2023 through Bandcamp. They also set up the Los Angeles-based Hologram Opera label which is run by former Stereolab keyboardist Morgane Lhote, Krissy Barker and dl Salo. Besides this project, the label releases material from Garek J Druss, Yoann Pisterman, and Hologram Teen.

In March 2026, the group began the rollout for the debut album with “Voice of Gob.”

While the project remains a duo in its core they have been working with a revolving cast of collaborators, singers, and performers. Their debut self-titled album follows on May 15, 2026 via Hologram Opera.

(Interview by Karo Kratochwil) Recently, I was given the chance to listen to “4S (Selective Sound Sensitivity Syndrome)”, the new TC75 album due out on 15 May, and it felt like the perfect occasion to ask Tino Claus, the mind behind the project, a few questions. What struck me first was how fresh and uncompromising this record sounds: harsher, rougher, and more abrasive than anything I had previously heard from him, yet still held together by a strong inner discipline. That very tension, between pressure and precision, noise and control, became one of the central themes of our conversation. We spoke about the paradox built into the album’s title, the unusually difficult process of finishing the record, the refusal to repeat old patterns, the role of contrast in both sound and artwork, and the broader artistic space Tino moves through between TC75, collaboration, and Amnistia. “4S” feels like an album that pushes his language into a more severe and exposed territory, and that is precisely what makes it so compelling.

TC75 interview

Karo: “4S (Selective Sound Sensitivity Syndrome)” is a telling title because it creates an immediate contradiction: an album built from force, pressure, and noise is named after a condition defined by hypersensitivity to sound. Was that contrast mainly an intellectual gesture for you, or did it also express something deeper about how overwhelming the contemporary world has become, even for people who are not clinically affected by misophonia?

TC75: The Plan was to name the album “Misophonia” with no deeper meaning or the plan to create a kind of concept-album. Finally I decided to change the name into that little letter monster. I thought it is a good idea to name my album after that condition even I know that my music causes such itches for some people.

Karo: You have said that this album was unusually difficult to finish, and that at one point you had only four songs and doubted the record would ever come together. Looking back now, was the resistance mainly musical, or was it also about finding the right emotional and conceptual language for where you were at that point in life?

TC75: It was just about the music. I did not find the right sounds or hooks to build songs on / out of it. Emotions mostly come on the table when we are talking about the lyrics.

Karo: What makes “4S” especially compelling is that it seems to treat hypersensitivity as more than a medical condition. The album often feels like a portrait of overload itself: too much noise, too much pressure, too much input, too little silence. At what point did the record begin to grow beyond its initial concept and become a wider reflection on the violence of constant stimulation?

TC75: I am not afflicted by misophonia but I know people who are. And believe me this is no fun. Some people are lucky when they know what the reason for their suffering is. I mean misophonia hasn’t even been properly researched yet, and not all medical professionals recognise it as a condition or even a symptom. Yet A LOT of people have health issues because of noise. Everyone is familiar with the sound of fingernails scratching a blackboard, a dripping tap, smacking lips while eating, or snoring. Imagine being hypersensitive to such noises and having nowhere to escape to… A nightmare scenario!

Karo: Compared to earlier TC75 material, this record feels harsher in structure, more stripped down, more abrasive, and at times almost closer to noise in its musical effect, even when the arrangements remain tightly controlled. Was that sonic severity a conscious production decision from the beginning, or did the material itself demand a rougher architecture as it developed?

TC75: I mean deep in my heart I am a Pop-Guy. It means normally I like songs with a clear structure and I don’t need any fancy stuff like the third or fourth bridge, a 5^th break and constantly changing rhythms or something similar. And I am not a musician. That’s why the structures are more or less simple. On the other hand I like noise in music and there are a lot of artists I adore for there works with and in noise. You are right the approach was to change my music a bit because I don’t want to – and can’t – keep drilling the same board over and over again. Your question makes me think I’ve managed to do that.

Karo: You have spoken very openly about not wanting to repeat yourself, not wanting to overthink the music, and not being interested in fulfilling expectations. At this stage, what does artistic progress actually mean to you? Is it about changing your sound, changing your process, or simply refusing to become predictable, even to yourself?

TC75: That is the question! It is the tragedy of artists that they cannot influence how the audience decides – have they found their style, or are they just repeating the same thing over and over? 

For me, it’s important that I can recognise an artist’s music by their style. That could be the music itself, the choice of sounds, and of course the voice. However, I’m not keen on knowing the song before I’ve heard it. Every new release should have some fresh element to it, without the style changing too drastically. Believe me – that’s not easy when you’ve released more than two albums.

Karo: One of the most striking aspects of “4S” is the tension between discipline and intensity. The tracks feel highly constructed, yet never sterile; emotionally charged, yet never chaotic. When you are building a TC75 track, how do you negotiate that balance between control and release in practical production terms?

TC75: My songs are driven by an initial sound. When I have a sound, a rhythm a “something”  instantly the lyrics come to my mind and the process of “composing” is done. I never use the word compose for my works I prefer the term “string sounds together” because this is what I actually do.

Karo: There is also a very deliberate sense of contrast around the album as a whole, not just in the title, but in the decision to avoid scene-typical artwork and to use pink and white rather than expected visual codes. How important is contradiction for you as an artistic method? Do you consciously work against expectation in both sound and image?

TC75: The artwork is still very important for listeners and byers of music. That’s why I try to create something that the people keep in mind. And if, in the end, I’m the crazy guy with the pink industrial pop record then it’s worked.But seriously – the same goes for the artwork… should I cut a piece out or not?

Karo: Songs such as “The Core” “In Parallel” or “Empty Eyes” suggest not just personal unease, but a much broader discomfort with the way people move through society now: overstimulated, performative, disconnected, permanently exposed. Do you see “4S” as your most explicitly social album so far, even if it never becomes didactic?

TC75: I wouldn’t say that. When we are talking about my lyrics – I write them when I have an itch, when something pisses me off. Good for me there is A LOT going on in the world which “inspires” me to write. 

Karo: Your work exists in several different constellations: TC75 as a solo project, collaborations, remixes, guest appearances, and of course Amnistia. When you move between those formats, what remains irreducibly “TC75” for you, the element that survives every different context and still makes the result unmistakably yours?

TC75: I would describe it like this… I feel it when a track is a TC75 song. On the other hand a rarely write songs for Amnistia that’s why I rarely have to decide…

Karo: Because you are also one half of Amnistia, I’m curious whether moving between the duo format and your solo work sharpens different parts of your artistic identity. Does Amnistia feed TC75 in hidden ways, and are there any new Amnistia plans or other collaborations currently taking shape that you can already hint at?

TC75: It is necessary that the solo work have to be different to the work with the main band/project. Otherwise it makes no sense. Thank God I work with very talented people in all my bands, as I don’t make the music there – because my friends do a brilliant job.

Karo: After “4S”, what do you feel has shifted most for you as an artist – not in terms of sound, but in terms of how you understand what you are doing and why you are still doing it?

TC75: To be honest… I still don’t know what I am doing exactly. I try to do my best when I work on music and artwork. It has to please me. I do what I want, I don’t want to think about my music to much because otherwise it would lose its spontaneity.

The Laibach “Musick” video is out now. “Musick” is the title track from the band’s upcoming album “Musick”, which is scheduled for release on May 1, 2026 via Mute on vinyl, CD, and digital formats.

The title track was co-produced by Richard X and features guest vocals by Wiyaala. The song addresses oversaturation and compulsive listening in a period where music is constantly uploaded, copied, and processed through algorithmic systems. Director Morten Traavik says: “In line with Laibach´s general artistic and philosophical values, we´re aiming for the perfect union of George Orwell and Lady Gaga.”

“Musick” is the first Laibach studio album of original material since “Spectre” was released in 2014. The record includes ten tracks: “Musick”, “Fluid Emancipation”, “Singularity”, “Resistencia”, “Love Machine”, “Luigi Mangione”, “Keep It Reel”, “Yes Maybe No”, “Allgorhythm”, and “Das göttliche Kind”.

Laibach ‘Musick’ 2026 tour dates

• 18 May – Graz (AT), Orpheum
• 19 May – Schorndorf (DE), Manufaktur
• 20 May – Cologne (DE), Essigfabrik
• 22 May – Aarhus (DK), VoxHall
• 23 May – Gothenburg (SE), Filmstudion
• 24 May – Stockholm (SE), Nya Circus
• 26 May – Helsinki (FI), Savoy Theatre
• 27 May – Tallinn (EE), Kultuurikeskus
• 28 May – Riga (LV), Spelet Concert Hall
• 29 May – Vilnius (LT), Loftas
• 30 May – Warsaw (PL), Progresja
• 31 May – Prague (CZ), Palac Akropolis
• 2 June – Leipzig (DE), Täubchenthal
• 3 June – Munich (DE), Muffathalle
• 4 June – Klagenfurt (AT), Burghof
• 27 June – Maribor (SI), Festival Lent
• 2 July – Vinkuran/Medulin Riviera (HR), Cave Romane
• 24 July – Castle (SI), Kolpa Music Festival
• 25 Sep – Ljubljana (SI), Kino Šiška
• 26 Sep – Ljubljana (SI), Kino Šiška
• 29 Sep – London (UK), Islington Assembly Hall
• 30 Sep – Manchester (UK), Ritz
• 1 Oct – Southampton (UK), 1865
• 2 Oct – Canterbury (UK), The Gulbenkian
• 4 Oct – Gent (BE), Democrazy
• 6 Oct – Bochum (DE), Zeche
• 7 Oct – Nijmegen (NL), Doornroosje
• 8 Oct – Hamburg (DE), Große Freiheit 36
• 9 Oct – Oslo (NO), Rockefeller Music Hall
• 11 Oct – Copenhagen (DK), Bremen Teater
• 13 Oct – Berlin (DE), Huxleys Neue Welt
• 14 Oct – Dresden (DE), Reithalle
• 15 Oct – Brno (CZ), Fleda
• 16 Oct – Zagreb (HR), Boogaloo

About Laibach

Laibach is a Slovenian music and cross-media group founded on June 1, 1980 in Trbovlje. The name is the historic German name for Ljubljana. From the start, the group worked across music, performance, video, graphics, installation, and manifesto, and in 1984 it co-founded the wider NSK (Neue Slowenische Kunst) collective.

Musically the band brings a mix of industrial, avant-garde, martial, neoclassical dark wave, and electronic music.

Their first album appeared in April 1985 under a sleeve without the band name because use of the name Laibach had been banned in Yugoslavia. Mute later signed the group and released “Opus Dei” in 1987. That was followed by “Kapital” in 1992, “NATO” in 1994, and “Jesus Christ Superstars” in 1997.

Laibach returned with “WAT” in 2003 and “Volk” on Mute in 2006. Later releases included “Also Sprach Zarathustra” in 2017, “The Sound of Music” in 2018, and the “Party Songs” EP in 2019, the latter tied to material from the North Korea project documented in “Liberation Day”.

More recent releases include “Wir sind das Volk” in 2022, “Sketches of the Red Districts” and the “Love Is Still Alive” EP in 2023, “Opus Dei (2024 Remaster)” and “Opus Dei Revisited” in 2024, plus “I Want To Know What Love Is”, “Alamut”, and the “Laibach 40” box in 2025.

A first teaser of the new “Musick” album was the pop single “Allgorhythm,” featuring Ghanaian singer Wiyaala on vocals.

Finnish-German futurepop duo PLATRONiC just released the digital single “Fortress of Fools“. The one-track release draws on influences from Anne Clark, Propaganda, VNV Nation, and Erasure. Kay wrote the text after struggling with what the band describes as the daily madness of the world, using a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale as a starting point before Sami brought in a more danceable instrumental direction.

The single is available via Bandcamp and on the streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, and YouTube.

About PLATRONiC

PLATRONiC is a Finnish-German futurepop/synthpop duo founded in 2020 by Finnish composer/producer Some-E (Savonlinna, Finland) and German singer-songwriter/co-producer Kay Burden (Frankfurt am Main, Germany). The duo connected via Instagram discussions in 2019 and formed on EBM Day, February 24, 2020.

Their early catalogue starts with “Dreams” (2020), followed by “Control” (2021) and “Maybe Someday?” (2021), plus “Maybe Someday? (Syntha Clause Remix)” (December 12, 2021). They continued with “Dreams (Nature of Wires remix)” (2022) and the single “Now!” (May 22, 2022).

In 2023, the duo issued the EP “The Healing” (January 6, 2023), a release tied to lockdown-era constraints and later events.

Later in 2023, the duo released a Depeche Mode cover single, “The Things You Said“. They followed with the single “Memories” (September 29, 2023) equally released via Town and Towers Records. On year later, they released “Calling (Mitten in der Nacht)” (February 24, 2024) and “Pride 2024” (June 7, 2024). They closed 2024 with “Winter Stores”. a track based on a poem by Charlotte Brontë.

In 2025, PLATRONiC announced “How To Ride The Wave?” and later on contributed to a Depeche Mode tribute compilation.

(By our correspondent Janos Janurik) On 24 April, Mortality Tables, the record label specialising in fine electronic music, is set to delight Alka fans with a fantastic collection of remixes.

“Gravity” is a collection of remixes derived from the tracks of “The Magnitude Weighs Heavy”, the 2025 album by the Philadelphia-based producer Alka.

This compilation unveils fresh dimensions and routes within the original pieces and includes remixes from Alka’s collaborators Vince Clarke, Scanner, Veryan, Pascal Gabriel (Stubbleman), Gareth Jones and Simon Fisher Turner, among others.

Additionally, Gravity includes remixes of ‘Scrapple’ from his 2020 album for Vince Clarke’s VeryRecords, titled “Regarding the Auguries”. The collection is rounded out by a 2018 live rendition of “Over the Hills and Vales” plus “We Are Free Forms” and a remix of “Truncate”, both of which were first featured on the VeryRecords album “The Colour of Terrible Crystal” (2017).

Gravity will be available on 24 April in a limited-edition CD with 13 tracks and an unlimited, expanded digital version that includes an extra remix from Scanner, the complete Simon Fisher Turner remix of “Antiquity Broke”, and a rare track titled “Multiple”.

Alka ‘Gravity’ Tracklist

1. Twilight (Perdurabo Remix)
2. Unravel (Starkey & Alka Remix)
3. Enchanté (Stubbleman Remix)
4. Truncate (Alka Tokyo Remix)
5. Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka (Gareth Jones Remix)
6. Soliloquy (Vince Clarke Remix)
7. Folding Skies (Textbeak Folded Grind Remix)
8. Unravel (Scanner Remix)
9. Antiquity Broke (Simon Fisher Turner Antique Fire Remix Edit)
10. Scrapple (Alka Myanmar Remix)
11. What Becomes (Mick Chillage Remix)
12. Enchanté (Veryan Remix)
13. Over Hills and Vales + We Are Free Forms (Live)
14. Soliloquy (Scanner Remix) – Digital Edition Only
15. Multiple – Digital Edition Only
16. Antiquity Broke (Simon Fisher Turner Antique Fire Remix) – Digital Edition Only

The album, which will be available on CD and as a digital download, can be ordered from the Mortality Tables website from 24 April onwards.

About Alka

Philadelphia-based electronic producer Alka is the project of Bryan Michael. He started the project in 2000 as an outlet for his own electronic compositions after earlier work in bands around Philadelphia. What began as a solo project later developed into a broader unit with Todd Steponick and visual artist-vocalist Erika Tele, who became part of the project’s live and studio activity.

Alka’s career started with a release on Roger O’Donnell’s 99X/10 Records in 2005, followed by the EP “A Theory of Naught” in 2006. The next full-length releases were “Principles of Suffocation” in 2007, “A Dog Lost in the Woods” in 2009, and “Compounded” in 2011.

Vince Clarke’s VeryRecords later issued “The Colour of Terrible Crystal” on October 13, 2017, and “Regarding The Auguries” on October 9, 2020. Alka’s latest full-length is “The Magnitude Weighs Heavy”, released on September 25, 2025 through Mortality Tables in digital and limited CD formats.

Belgian electro-wave project Neon Electronics have put the new 12-inch EP “Liberation” on preorder via Oráculo Records. The release comes as a black 180-gram vinyl limited to 300 copies with shipping around May 27-30. The EP includes remixes by Ancient Methods and Patrick Codenys of Front 242.

Oráculo Records describes the EP as “the final chapter in the journey of Dirk Da Davo.” The material was recorded by Dirk Da Davo, while Glenn Keteleer and Pieter-Jan Theunis. Keteleer handled production and mixing on the non-remix material, Daniel Hallhuber mastered the release for vinyl at Young and Cold Studios.

The tracklist runs as follows: “Liberation”, “Justification Unknown (Original Mix)”, “Justification Unknown (Ancient Methods Remix)”, “Nothing For Nothing (Original Mix)”, “Nothing For Nothing (Patrick Codenys -Front 242- N4N Convict Remix)”, “One Word, One Crime”, and “Disappear”. The digital edition adds “Walking Around” as a bonus track.

About Neon Electronics

Neon Electronics is the project of Dirk Da Davo, known from The Neon Judgement. The electronic dance project mixes electro-wave, EBM, post-punk and related electronic music.

The project’s first release was the self-titled album “Neon Electronics” in 1999 and “U B There”. Next were the albums “Swingers Delight”, followed by “Monkey Ever After” in 2007. The 2013 compilation “99TO12COMP” pulled material from the 1999 debut CD up until 2012’s “Keylogger” CD.

“System Rivièra” followed in 2003 on CD and in 2009 as a digital edition, alongside “Better Way” with The Hacker. Later came “Keylogger”, the “Toyboy” EP in 2013, and the album “ne” in 2015.

While Neon Electronics began as a solo project, Glenn Keteleer had already been involved for years, and Pieter-Jan Theunis joined around 2014/15. By the time of “Apollo”, the core lineup consisted of Dirk Da Davo, Glenn Keteleer and Pieter-Jan Theunis.

Oráculo had already worked with the project on the “Mondriaan” vinyl in late 2018, ahead of “Apollo” in April 2019. The project issued a new version of “Factory Walk” in December 2024, followed by “Nothing For Nothing” in July 2025 and “Justification Unknown” in February 2026. “Liberation” now pulls that recent run together on vinyl.