Faded Pulse, the Washington, D.C. project of Faeryn Johnson, has released “Elysia”, a second full-length that combines ethereal wave, goth, folk and dream pop. The album is out now through Bandcamp as a digital release.

Acoustic guitar, hammered dulcimer, electric bass and ambient synthesizer carry a set of songs built around water spirits, waiting maidens and woodland gatherings drawn from medieval poetry and Victorian painting. Johnson has a background in art history, and cites the Pre-Raphaelites, the Arts and Crafts movement and Art Nouveau as touchstones alongside the writing of Alfred Lord Tennyson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and John Keats. William Morris’s poem “Two Red Roses Across the Moon,” seen depicted in a mural at the American Arts and Crafts Museum, shaped the knight-and-maiden narrative of “Will Thy Heart Be True?”, while Keats’s “La Belle Dame sans Merci” fed into “Summerland.”

From synthpop to ethereal wave

“Elysia” follows 2025’s synthpop-rooted “Submission” and that year’s “Fallen” EP, both released under Faded Pulse. Johnson traces the move toward a more ethereal sound to watching Monica Richards perform with Strange Boutique at the Black Cat in Washington, D.C. in 2025. “The moment I knew I wanted to move sonically towards that was when I saw Strange Boutique live,” Johnson said. “Seeing Monica Richards on stage and hearing the music live was really a light-bulb moment for me.”

Johnson names Projekt Records artists Black Tape for a Blue Girl, Lycia, Love Spirals Downwards and Unto Ashes as the strongest influences on the album, alongside the 1960s and ’70s folk of Pentangle and Donovan. The bassline on “Undine” was modeled on Slowdive’s “Ballad of Sister Sue,” and the hammered dulcimer that leads the instrumental “Fair Lady in Gold” came out of weeks spent studying Renaissance and medieval music. “Lamia’s Kiss” draws on Middle Eastern and Mediterranean sounds that Johnson traces partly to time spent living in Asia as a child, with the dulcimer again carrying the melody.

Johnson describes “Elysia” as more than escapism. “When listeners ‘leave the realm of Elysia,’ I want people to bring that sort of magic into their everyday lives,” Johnson said. “Whether that be getting involved in their local communities, making art, or reading poetry. Whatever it is that makes you feel connected to the world around you.”

About Faded Pulse

Faded Pulse is the solo project of Faeryn Johnson, based in Washington, D.C. Johnson entered the goth scene as a teenager, citing The Cure’s “Pornography” as a formative record for its dense sound design and Robert Smith’s lyricism. Faded Pulse’s first album, “Submission,” began in 2022 and was released in 2025, built primarily around 1980s new wave and synthpop influences. The “Fallen” EP followed later that year, moving toward a more ethereal sound.

“Elysia,” released in 2026, extends that shift further into ethereal wave, folk and goth, drawing on Johnson’s study of art history and Johnson’s long-standing interest in the 1990s Projekt Records catalogue. Johnson has described the album’s visual presentation, thrifted velvet, medieval-style dress and imagery drawn from John William Waterhouse’s paintings, as inseparable from its sound. “Elysia” is out now on Bandcamp.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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