Moonraccoon and Gryff were both artists with strong showings in 2018, so seeing the two collaborate on Ride should be a delight to any fan of the genre. Swedish-based Moonraccoon’s style has always been a fine balance between the cinematic and the infectious, while Australia-based Gryff’s distinct and emotive songs have usually soared above more funk and nu-disco inspired tracks. Blending the two styles manages to highlight the best qualities of both, and this is obvious less than 60 seconds into the EP with opener “Ride”.

The titular track has such a sense of urgency that the EP quickly establishes itself as one which favors energy over subtlety, and that works in its favor. The chorus of the track could go toe-to-toe with any of The Midnight’s more mainstream crossover jams. The track’s production all leads towards and accents the energy of this chorus. The first chorus is preceded by a half time intro, while the second drops everything until a few exciting tom hits bring listeners back to the mesmerizing synth and powerful vocals.

Before going any further, it’s time to address the elephant in the room: Gryff is easily one of the strongest singers in the scene. This was obvious on 2018’s “Jessie” and “All Night”, but the fact that “Ride” shows that he has somehow gotten even better is absurd, and it more deeply solidifies the fact that, in 2019, if neither Gryff or Moonraccoon aren’t on your radar, what are you even doing?

“No Easy Way Out” follows and blends synthwave sensibilities with a more glam rock aesthetic and vibe. The inversion of the previous song’s synth-focuses composition with a guitar solo shows this song with a more guitar-oriented track that features a synth solo that behaves in much the same way, climbing throughout the scale of the song. The other strength of the track is in just how larger-than-life it sounds. This is an arena anthem.

The slower, more romantic track “Promises” rounds out the string of original tunes. Though the pace is less frantic than the two preceding tracks, it packs just as much of a punch. Sonically, the song makes absolutely no pretense about being something other than a love song, but still the melodies throughout it, both from the synths and the vocals, makes it something melancholy without necessarily evoking heartbreak. It ends with a massive multi-person refrain of the chorus that literally fades out to lyrics that beg to not “fade out”. This kind of musical mimesis makes me a happy boy.

The remixes of “Ride” complete the EP, with Aviators and Yoru each offering a different interpretation of what was probably the Ride’s best track. Both are fun in their own right and are a good bonus to fans of the release. This EP is one that won’t require a lot of spins to get into, but it is one which will probably compel you to go back to it throughout the year, or even longer. There’s gold here.

You can follow Moonraccoon on Twitter and Bandcamp.

You can follow Gryff on Facebook, Twitter, and Bandcamp.

Listen to Ride here!

Findland-based Turbo Knight’s January 2019 release has four new tracks and three remixes and each track has a real sense of space that lends itself to headphones and larger speakers.

The EP opens strongly, the Dimi Kaye collaboration “The Ascension”.  The track is over five minutes of mostly percussion-less synth soundscapes and ambient guitars that never overstays its welcome. The sounds weave in and out of the background allowing for various components of the track to take turns as the highlight. The guitar and Vangelis-esque brass synths trade off as they lure listeners deeper and deeper into the sounds that surrounds you. It ends on a cinematic and euphoric crescendo before the EP quite literally changes pace.

“Citadel”, featuring vocals from Sunesis, is the highlight of the release. Sunesis vocals in the first half of the track are an airy and breathy pad that the more upfront chiptune-esque leads bounce off of. The combination is a near transcendental sense of atmosphere as listeners again find themselves lost in the track. The song’s final moments pulse in a groove that is as dramatic as it is upbeat.

The feature-heavy release continues with the Dream Shore and Polemic Heart collaboration “Take You There”. The digital tenor of the vocals float over the pulsing arps of the instrumental. There’s also a cascading dreamy pluck filling everything out. Polemic Heart’s vocals are catchy throughout, and become chopped and manipulated by the song’s end to a really interesting effect.

And just as the album opened with “The Ascension”, it closes with “The Descent”. Sunesis comes back for this track and joins Starquake Synthmaster in another spacey and strange ethereal track. The shreddy guitars and dreamy vocals give the song a sense of finality. This gives the EP a sense of cohesion. With everything that the three throw at the track, it’s still hard to overlook how strong Turbo Knight’s production is and how the sound design of the synths gives everything a memorable quality. There isn’t a dull moment to be found.

The three “The Ascension” remixes on the EP are all vastly different enough from one another and from the original. Yoru gives the track a chilled yet dancey groove. Vosto makes the track’s already atmospheric elements even more spaced out and unusual. Inexdra melds synthwave with more house-oriented components to give the song a really funky rhythmic section.

The Citadel EP is a supremely enjoyable melding of different ideas held together by a strong sense of flow throughout the EP and a strong commitment to production. There’s always a handful of releases early in the year that set the bar high for the scene. It’s obvious that The Citadel EP is 2019’s early high benchmark.

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The Citadel EP by Turbo Knight https://open.spotify.com/artist/7hsyLArBqyxYqQF2ODoT3c?si=Pw4d-03rQf2K6pd2KY9B9A

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIGyZEpogIK7b7RgHF6a2cQ

https://soundcloud.com/turboknight

https://www.facebook.com/turboknightsynthwave

https://turboknight.bandcamp.com/

https://twitter.com/turbo_knight