Danz CM explores two sides of her electronic world on double single ‘A Violent Power’ and ‘Bontempi Pop 3’. Previewing a forthcoming new project, the tracks draw heavily from vintage electronic sounds without simply recreating the past, pairing old-school hardware with a distinctly contemporary approach.
‘A Violent Power’ takes the lead with a driving beat and a magical array of analogue synths, settling into a groove somewhere between new wave and darkwave without belonging completely to either. There are traces of Kraftwerk, Tubeway Army and Devo in its retro-futuristic DNA, but Danz CM makes the sound entirely her own. Brightness and darkness exist side by side, with an underlying flicker of anxiety preventing its more buoyant moments from becoming entirely carefree.
‘Bontempi Pop 3’ slips into more atmospheric territory. Breakbeats and the distinctive sound of its Italian toy organ create a hypnotic, trip-hop-inflected counterpart to the first track, proving that unusual instrumentation doesn’t necessarily need to result in something deliberately difficult. Together, the two songs make natural companions: different in character but unmistakably inhabitants of the same strange, synth-filled universe.
