One of the leading tracks from Anna Öberg’s current album, SIN, gets the video treatment. Lie on your back, it says here, but you might want to hop around, too.
Lace up your bovver boots, strap on your suspenders, and fetch your flat cap: Container 90 are back with new remixes. “Hard Knock Life” and “Psycho Social Media” have new versions, but our choice for today is this mix of “Remote Mind Control,” which has been retooled by Katscan.
Bill Leeb joined Skinny Puppy as a teenager. He left in 1986 to found Front Line Assembly, which has almost reached its fortieth anniversary. Along the way, he has worked with other artists as (among others) Delerium, Noise Unit, Cyberaktif, Fauliage, and Equinox. What has been missing, amidst the constant flow of electro-industrial and ambient music, is a solo album.
That is set to be remedied with the release of Model Kollapse on Metropolis in September. The eleven-song album will be in vinyl and CD formats, showcasing the British Columbia musician’s current output. There will be guests involved, as the first single to be unveiled reveals. “Terror Forms” includes another Left Coast resident: Shannon Hemmett from Actors and Leathers.
(Photo: Bobby Talamine)
The history of Propaganda is one of a band, interrupted. Since their founding in 1982 in Düsseldorf, there have been multiple alignments of its members, with various combinations of the original group taking part. Today, like divided Germany, the core team from the days of A Secret Wish is split into two halves: xPropaganda, composed of Claudia Brücken (Act, Onetwo) and Susanne Freitag; and continuity Propaganda, led by Ralf Dörper (Die Krupps, Die Robo Sapiens) and Michael Mertens.
The occasion for cheers is the release of a new single by the boys. “Purveyor of Pleasure” features the vocals of German-based Thunder Bae (no, not the town on the edge of Lake Superior). It’s classy and catchy. And it’s a reminder of the effective combination of Mertens’ classical training and Dörper’s industrial aesthetic. An excellent, modern pop track – even without the ZTT spit-shine and Paul Morley nonsense.
Suitably aggressive beats and a throbbing bass line from Sweden’s Strikkland herald a new single. They will make you a believer in EBM or teach you the consequences of Viking rage.
You can catch Henrik and Henric at Wave-Gotik-Treffen on Sunday, 19 May 2024, at Haus Leipzig, if you are there at 1820.
Far out sounds from the Far North: the new 20Hz single combines the electronic mastery of Erik Ångman (Göteborgselektronikerna, Octolab) with Per-Ivan’s vocals. Sprawl, the new 20Hz album, hits the racks in a couple of weeks. On the strength of this track, it should be a flowing, poptastic affair.
Not the Rubenesque drag queen who paired up with John Waters, no. “Divine” is the latest single from Shannon Hemmett’s Leathers project. Co-written with her Actors partner, Jason Corbett, it’s a fine slice of pop with the imprint of Canada’s Left Coast.
Sofi Bonde returns with an unapologetically pop song about choosing life. There is a heaviness behind the track, but it soars with anthemic qualities. The Swedish star co-wrote the song with her long-time collaborator, Stefan Lebrot.
Just in time for Valborg comes a love song written by Eivør on her new Prophet 5. Lifted from her forthcoming album, ENN, it has an 80s vibe. Romancing the machine, indeed.
If Portishead and DAF had a love child, this new track from Sweden’s Emmon might be the result. Conceived for the forthcoming EP, XCEPTION (out on 31 May 2024), the lyrics grew for two decades before being paired with the melody. Classy and compelling stuff.