Darkswoon – Bloom Decay (Album – Icy Cold Records)
Genre/Influences: Dark-Wave, Dark-Pop, Shoegaze.
Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.
Background/Info: Portland (USA) based female trio Darkswoon strikes back with their third full length album. After a first self-released opus they signed to the French Icy Cold Records.
Content: You’ll quickly notice the melancholic sound exposure reminiscent of 80s productions. Darkswoon mixes elements of pure Dark-Wave together with more evasive Shoegaze and Dark-Pop passages.
+ + + : The guitar playing inject this nostalgic 80s sound to the work. It creates an elevating effect at the opening title song while my favorite one is “Under Glass”. This song is progressively built up reaching an uplifting apotheosis.
– – – : Darkswoon deals with accessible influences and yet it’s not easy getting into it. I’m missing a catchy and/or melodic touch to make it all easier to bite.
Conclusion: Darkswoon stands for melancholia getting us back to 80s dark reverie.
Best songs: “Under Glass”, “Bloom Decay”.
Rate: 6½.
Artist: www.darkswoon.com / www.facebook.com/darkswoon.pdx
Label: www.facebook.com/icycoldrecords
About Darkswoon
Darkswoon is a band from Portland, Oregon, described on Discogs as playing elektrohaze, a self-styled blend that mixes Dark-Wave and Shoegaze with Ballads and Dream-Pop. The lineup includes Jana Cushman on vocals and guitar, Rachel Ellis on synths and drum machines, Norah Lynn on bass, and Andrew Michael Potter. The band self-released its debut album, “BIND”, on February 9, 2019, before signing to Icy Cold Records for “Bloom Decay”, released September 14, 2022 – the album reviewed here.
Darkswoon later returned with the album “Antivenom”, released through Viasonde in 2026 and recorded and produced by Jana Cushman and Jeremy Wilkins.
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