The Los Angeles based dark electronic pop duo BlakLight, Brian Belknap (Mind Machine) and Adam Collier (Crush333, Full Frontal Disco and MDA), have released the first single from their forthcoming double remix album, “Out Of The Void – The Remixes”. “Waiting” in a Solar Fake Remix is available right here from Bandcamp.

“Waiting”, originally from the band’s second album, “Into The Void”, is remixed here by Solar Fake’s Sven Friedrich, and includes a bonus instrumental version exclusively on Bandcamp.

Also released today is a new, exclusive track, “Wicked Face”, taken from the forthcoming “Generation Blitz 2: Concrete and Chrome” compilation.

In further news the band makes their live debut on March 18th 2022, joining Matte Blvck and Vain Machine, presented by Luna Negra at Bart Lounge in Cathedral City, CA, followed by an appearance at Bar Sinister in Hollywood, CA and at the inaugural Darkness Calling Festival in Los Angeles, CA. You can find all dates and ticket info right here.

The duo will release an additional remix single on March 18th with a further remix single and Bandcamp album pre-order on April 1st. Adam and Brian are continuing work on their third and fourth albums.

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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Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: American Electro-Pop duo BlakLight took me last year by surprise releasing the album “Music In A Time Of Uncertainty”, which became one of my favorite full lengths of the year. Driven by Brian Belknap (Mind Machine) and Adam Collier (Crush333, MDA, Full Frontal Disco) BlakLight already released a few singles to introduce their second album.

Content: “Into The Void” is pure Electro-Pop music, which moves on there where the previous album stopped. The global sound production became more mature, the songs being more polished and elaborated with empowering guitar playing –by guest musician Pano Coromelas. Some songs have been accomplished with some retro elements. BlakLight invited two guest singers, Gene Serene (The Frixion) and Magnus Dahlberg (More) to sing each on one song.

+ + + : BlakLight again took me by surprise, but I now got more impressed by the professional approach of the song writing and global sound production. The album also takes off with the great “Paranoid” featuring an irresistible chorus and a powerful production. I also enjoyed tracks like “Nightmares” for its empowering guitar play and “Reset” which sounds more vintage-like. Both songs were also released as singles. There also is the more sensual and melancholic “Vampires” featuring male & female vocals. The production of the vocals is also great and totally matches with the Electro-Pop sound.

– – – : I’ve listened a few times to the new album and can’t get away from the idea “Music In A Time Of Uncertainty” featured more potential hits.

Conclusion: BlakLight confirms great writing and production skills; this is a band with an own and refreshing sound and I honestly can’t understand why this band isn’t signed on a leading label of the scene.

Best songs: “Paranoid”, “Vampires”, “Reset”, “Nightmares”, “Into The Void”, “Skin”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/BlakLightband

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

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Los Angeles based dark electronic pop duo Brian Belknap (Mind Machine) & Adam Collier (Crush333, Full Frontal Disco & MDA) release their second album, “Into The Void” on Friday October 8th.

“Into The Void’ is available for Bandcamp pre-order since Friday October 1st, before its release everywhere on Friday October 8th. Fans get to hear a third track from the album, “World”, featuring Magnus Dahlberg from MORE, streaming on Bandcamp along with the two previous singles “Nightmares” and “Reset”.

BlakLight will also be releasing “Into The Void” on a limited edition signed digipak CD as well as launching a crowd funded vinyl campaign via Qrates.

The release comes after last year’s debut album, “Music in a Time of Uncertainty”. Featuring guest vocals from Gene Serene (The Frixion) on “Vampires” and Magnus Dahlberg (MORE) on “World”, the album also adds a layer of guitars, courtesy of Pano Coromelas.

The band will make their first live performance on November 20th, joining Vain Machine, at Bar Sinister in Hollywood, CA. BlakLight will also be releasing another single from “Into The Void” in December. And on the schedule for early 2022, is also an “Into The Void” remix album.

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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From BlakLight member Adam Collier comes a brand new project: Frontal Disco. The idea for Full Frontal Disco already came in late 2019 and the basic aim behind the project is to have different singers from Collier’s favorite indie bands on vocals.

The first of those collaborations is now out on single: “Beautiful Crisis”. On vocals we find Ryan Slemko from Hollowlove, who personally selected “Beautiful Crisis” as the track to work on. The track throws you back in time, and if you ask us it reminds a lot of Erasure’s splendid “Always” period in 1994.

Adam: “I have other songs ready now with a couple more male vocalists and one female and I will be releasing those singles throughout 2021. There is another song called “Deep” that is slated as the next release with Mark Bebb of Shelter.”

The single release has the radio edit, an extended version, and a club mix. Warmly recommended to fans of Erasure and related acts!

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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BlakLight returns with “Control – The Remixes” later this month (next week actually). The EP revisits the track “Control” which the duo released earlier in May. The EP features remixes from Scenius, Mind Machine, Promenade Cinema, Beyond Border, Lloyd Price and the band’s very own “stripped” version. The Bandcamp pre-order has started today (download and CD).

You can already check out a first remix below.

BlakLight is an American duo from Los Angeles featuring singer Brian Belknap (Mind Machine) and Adam Collier (CRUSH333, MDA, Full Frontal Disco). Last year they self-released their debut full length “Music In A Time Of Uncertainty” offering ten tracks mixing retro electro-pop elements together with melancholic and danceable parts. A new album is already in the making.

Here’s an interview with the band.

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!

side-line.com

Los Angeles based dark electronic pop duo BlakLight aka Brian Belknap (Mind Machine)and& Adam Collier (Crush333, MDA and Full Frontal Disco) are prepping a new BlakLight single, “Control”. “Control” is the third and final single from their debut album, “Music in a Time of Uncertainty”.

To be released on Friday May 7th the single will feature a new mix of “Control”, the Broken Mix on the A-side, while the B-side is the band’s cover of Peter Murphy’s “Cuts You Up”. Below is the artwork.

In further news, the band have a brand new, exclusive track on the forthcoming charity compilation “Ice Planet Goth” curated by Darkness Calling. This one will be out on May 4th. For every cent after Bandcamp’s fees, Darkness Calling pledges to make a matching donation to The Trevor Project, the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ young people.

Check out their debut album, “Music in a Time of Uncertainty”, right below.

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!

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info:  BlakLight in a brand-new duo hailing from Los Angeles (USA). The band is driven by singer Brian Belknap (Mind Machine) and operator Adam Collier (Crush333, MDA and Full Frontal Disco). This self-released debut-album features ten songs.

Content: BlakLight is clearly driven by Electro-Pop music with a vintage touch on top. The songs are carried by melody lines and melancholic moods. The work has something dreamy and yet danceable. There are no real breaks in this work; there’s a non-stop succession of enjoyable and entertaining songs. Some passages remind me a bit of De/Vision.

+ + + : If the title of this work seems to be a clear indication about the horrible year 2020 has been, it also reflects a mature and impressive work. BlakLight is not reinventing the Electro-Pop style, but this is a mature composition made with great sound treatments, poignant melancholic atmospheres and a global refinement in the production. The songs are danceable, revealing several little jewels such as “Control”, “I Remember Nothing” and “This Lonely Night”. The album takes off with 3 great songs, but the final part of the work is also impressive. From a pure technical point of view this album sounds perfect; great music and a talented singer.

– – – : After the very strong debut tracks, “Unknown love” and “The Sound” both are the only cuts from the album with a little less potential.

Conclusion: BlakLight sounds as a refreshing breeze in Electro-Pop land; don’t expect that much innovation, but simply a brilliant production.

Best songs: “I Remember Nothing”, “Control”, , “This Lonely Night”, “Under The BlakLight”, “Isolation”,

Rate (8½).

Artist: www.blaklightband.com / www.facebook.com/BlakLightband

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com