Sexsomnia is a Montreal, Canada–based trio that has released several singles, EPs, and even a full-length album since 2022. Forbidden, released in 2025, features a new title track accompanied by a remix, an additional track, and, finally, a remix of the album’s opening track by Attrition.

Sexsomnia operates within the Electro/Cold-Wave spectrum, a style that is already quite well developed here and distinguished by the use of two bass guitars as a key characteristic, layered over Electronic production. The music is steeped in a cold, sometimes mysterious atmosphere that has a strong appeal. Add to that ethereal female vocals—as well as an additional female guest vocal on one of the tracks—and you get a clear sense of the band’s sound. Interestingly, I personally don’t consider the title track to be their strongest work and expected a bit more from the remix by Attrition’s Martin Bowes, who also handled the mastering.

Sexsomnia sounds as a project with clear potential that still deserves further exploration. (Rating:7).

Listen to “Vapor”:

https://sexsomnia.bandcamp.com/track/vapor

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Montreal darkwave-electro trio Sexsomnia have released “Forbidden (Shadow Mix)”, a new remix and video-single featuring Marita Volodina of Polish act Stridulum. The track previews their forthcoming EP “Forbidden”, which is set for release on August 25, 2025. Preorders are now open via Bandcamp.

The “Shadow Mix” offers a club-oriented reinterpretation of the original Sexsomnia track. Frontman Philip Faith explains: “After we finished the recording sessions, I felt like that song could be interesting on the dancefloor, with less of the organic darkwave sound of the original. During one of my resident DJ nights at Cabaret Berlin for a fetish event, it all became clear to me, and the next day I started de-constructing ‘Forbidden’.”

He describes the remix as “an eerie, hypnotic, dance version with elements of industrial, trance, and dark disco,” created using an Access Virus T1, Moog Minitaur, Vsynth, and various analog synthesizers and drum machines.

The video accompanying the track features footage from a previous photo session for Dark Beauty Magazine titled “Love Under Will”, using two faceless characters in a monochrome, film noir visual.

The full EP includes two alternate mixes of “Forbidden”, as well as a new track titled “Vapor” with guest vocals by jazz-trained singer Isabelle Young. It also features a remix of “Nigrum Viduam” with Jacinthe Benoit on vocals, reworked by UK darkwave artist Attrition. Martin Bowes of Attrition also mastered the EP.

“We’ve been lucky with this EP to have some amazing collaborators on board,” Faith says. “Working with Marita Volodina was pure bliss – total symbiosis. We even succeeded shooting a video together, long distance between Canada and Poland.”

About Sexsomnia

Sexsomnia was founded in October 2021 in Montreal, Canada, by Philip Faith (bass guitars, programming, keys, vocals) and Pat Gaudette (bass guitars), later joined by Michael K. Rien (electronic percussion, synths). The group takes its name from a complex sleep disorder.

Faith has previously collaborated with Decoded Feedback, Third Realm, Edward Ka-Spel, Oneiroid Psychosis, and Blind Agony. Gaudette is a known figure in Montreal’s hardcore and post-punk scenes, having played with Unruled, Hexapheen, and NowFuture. Rien, described as a “driving energy” within the band, is the creator of the electronic project Earth Chronicles and a former member of nu-metal group Special Ops.

Their sound blends baritone and bass guitars with darkwave-electronic textures and dancefloor rhythms, with influences from The Cure, Giorgio Moroder, Propaganda, Trentemøller, Joy Division, Ladytron, Velvet Acid Christ, and David Lynch. Since 2022, Sexsomnia have released a string of singles, videos, and EPs. Their debut full-length, “Transcendent”, was released in 2024 via French label Manic Depression Records.

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.

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