As the opening, arabesque vocals of “Play The Game” lead us into this latest EP from Hollow Shift, we are reminded that genres are informed as much by geography as anything else. So it is natural that music made by an artist based in Athens, Greece, a country that has ebbed and flowed for millennia between European, North African, and Middle Eastern influences, would find that epic sonic history reflected in it.
But essentially, this is music that continues a particular strand of darkwave sonics that the post-punk scene first nurtured way back when (….and that way back when was also when I was taking my first steps along my own formative musical learning curve.)
As that opening salvo settles into its stride, we also realise that far from being a replay or plagiarism of past glories, it is rather the sound of a band writing new chapters, sign-posting a new future in that magnificent story.
“All Alone” brings together the dance groove of such early synth-pop pioneers, the dreampop drift that followed, and, most importantly, a modern alternative pop grace, something in short supply in modern commercial realms. The title track then takes this dance energy to some brilliant heights, a searing, sensational swathe of clubland euphoria and infectious groove, with soaring synths and driving beats.
“Heat” explores that counterpoint between the commercial and the cultish, the place where the dark meets the light, the underground goes overground, a pulsing, poised and poignant sonic onslaught and “Fatal” leaves us with the perfect blend of atmosphere and artistry, the sound of dance and darkwave waltzing together into a bright (dark?) new future for this enigmatic sound.
The future is always arriving, music is ever-evolving, the past is always planting seeds for the future, and the past is the engine room that powers the future. Such philosophies run through Reload like creative blood through musical veins.
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