New releases this week: Coldwave/Synth

Review: Le Couleur consistently sidesteps complacency with each new album presenting a fresh musical experiment without ever losing its familiar foundation. With Comme dans un penthouse, the band takes its biggest leap into musical exploration yet as they revisit elements of 'Voyage Love' while delving deeper into disco infused with new wave nuances. The result is a cooler, more distant vibe compared to their previous work. The album crafts a narrative universe around Barbara, introduced in 'POP,' as she seeks excess, pleasure, and happiness amidst frenetic rhythms. From the Krautrock-inspired 'Autobahn' to futuristic tracks reminiscent of Das Mortal, Le Couleur deftly balances innovation with familiarity here on another sublime-sounding album.

Review: By the time 2024's Pendulum landed, Twin Tribes had been building up a vehemently passionate following among members of black-nailed, dark-hearted subcultures for nine years. Also known as Luis Navarro and Joel NiNo Jr., the pair clocked up underground wins with two preceding records, Ceremony and Shadows, garnering attention among fans of cold wave and post punk. Now they take the whole concept to even higher - icier - heights. One wrong step and you'll be cast down the mountainside, it's dizzying at times. Chunky basslines drive us into yearning, strangely subdued-yet-soaring melodies that seem to speak to despair and hope in equal measure. It's hugely evocative stuff that rarely lets up in terms of intensity, 'Caldron of Thorns' among the tracks at the lower end of tempo scales, and even then it's not really hanging about.

Review: The superb Philoxenia Records, which is spearheaded by Luigi Di Venere and Neu Verboten, here unveils a coveted addition to its collection with the the super limited Last Place On Earth EP from Vilnius-based Dovydas Platakis aka Jokios Kulturos. It's a cinematic work that immerses listeners in a dystopian realm that blends avant-garde tones with manga-inspired cyberpunk vibes. Each track serves as a gateway to a world where technological progress intertwines with societal decline, which is of course often the focus of classic cyberpunk literature. Di Venere and Verboten also combine under their Affekt Unit alias to deliver captivating remixes and bring trance and tribal techno elements to the party.