DARKSWOON “Silhouettes” (self-released)




Gorgeous gloomy dream pop from PDX, Jana and Christian, aka Darkswoon, tap into that alterna-goth thing without going full Hot Topic. Silhouettes is all mood, with both live and electronic instrumentation. Jana’s voice is a real strength, emotive and rangey, featuring a bit of Annie Lennox creeping into it on occasion. I wouldn’t go so far as saying that Darkswoon falls on the spectrum “somewhere between My Bloody Valentine and Juliana Barwick” –a descriptor like that (from their Bandcamp page) has to be reserved for something absolutely otherworldly. Darkswoon is certainly of this world, seething against it, maybe, but doing it in their own blacklit, incense-rich way. Hard to get that stuff out of the heavy black drapes. Regardless, these five songs will help you forget South Park ever had any goth episodes. I think. Or they’ll make you remember them, but in a non-annoying way. Does anything matter? Aw, heck, stuff matters. This tape matters. The fact that I got a broken Norelco matters. Nice packaging, Nick. L

Darkswoon

--Ryan Masteller