Back catalogue: Coldwave/Synth

Review: Legendary British outfit Saint Etienne returned with their 12th studio album late last year, and now it lands on vinyl via Heavenly Recordings. A much-awaited follow-up to 2021's I've Been Trying To Tell You, this ambient collection offers a gentle, immersive experience designed to ease the noise of daily life. It was produced with Augustin Bousfield and blends songs, spoken word and rain-soaked textures into a seamless dreamscape, all recorded between Saltaire in the north and Hove down on the south coast. It captures the fragile space between waking and sleep with highlights like 'Half Light' and 'Preflyte'. As such, The Night is best experienced on headphones and is ideal for late hours, reflection and introspection.

Review: A reissue of material that Pete Shelley originally released in 1981, not long after the Buzzcocks' first split. It may be his second solo album, but with his first album - Sky Yen - being an arty experimental record, it's this album that spawned his first ever solo single. Giving a glimpse into the ridiculous censorship at the time, the single, 'Homosapien', was banned by the BBC, who interpreted a line in the track to be a sexually explicit reference to gay sex. Sonically, the album marks a humungous shift from the punk sound that Shelley gatecrashed the mainstream with in the Buzzcocks in the mid-70s. This is a highly electro-pop record and had producer Martin Rushent, who was also working with The Human League on the epoch-defining Dare album at the time, help shape the forward-thinking sound it became.

Review: Given the sharp left-turn that Shelley took with his solo career after leaving The Buzzcocks, it's sort of irrelevant if you're a fan of his seminal punk band or not. This second solo album - now reissued - is an entirely different kettle of fish. Whilst the 80s is famed for a lot of innocuous releases, due to the industry flush with cash, this stellar electro pop album - originally released in 1983 - stands the test of time: it's more experimental and artful than the run-of-the-mill chart-botherers of the time. This is a record that conveys Shelley's ability to write timeless, direct, hard-hitting singles ('Telephone Operator') and veer into more sprawling and adventurous arrangements ('What Was Heaven?') with the fluency of a true auteur. Producer Martin Rushent is due his flowers here, too, as it was his and Shelley's evolved embrace of innovative studio techniques during these sessions that set the bar for The Human League and other classic acts around the scene at the time.

Review: Silver Tears is the new project from Berlin-based artists Luca Venezia of Curses fame, and Damian Shilman of Skelesys. After debuting in 2023 with a standout track on Next Wave Acid Punx Deux, the duo returns with their self-titled full-length album and it features eight tracks of refined, beat-driven coldwave that are all layered to perfection. Deep bass, shimmering guitars, mechanical drums, and haunting baritone vocals. Blending dancefloor energy with introspective moods, it draws influence from 90s shoegaze and grunge. Their sound pays homage to the goth subculture while proving its continued relevance through a compelling mix of elegance, darkness and emotional intensity.

Review: Born from the success of Soft Cell's triumphant *Happiness Not Included record, the iconic and somewhat elusive - five studio LPs in 41 years - Soft Cell have decided to go all in with a package of alternative rides, previously unreleased mixes, and single-only B-sides. Nothing here featured on the original LP, and there are a few bonus workouts of stuff not from the source album, too. Cover versions of Fad Gadget's 'Back to Nature', X-Ray Spec's 'The Day The World Turned Day Glo', and a freshly minted take on the Cell's own landmark 'Last Chance' all elevate this, not that people were likely to have needed another reason to stick it in their basket. A great example of why less is more, but generosity is the secret to true satisfaction.

Review: Dystopia seems to reign supreme in electronic music today. Saatseinde, Dutch EBM-ers-cum-synth-punks, embrace the idea of hurtling into some form of end days with their mini-album, Artificial Intelligence. Bursting out of the hard drive and into your ears, darkness runs through the foundations of these eight tracks, as do the kind of rhythms that insist on movement. Touches of Italo remind us of just how much club potential is here, while the overall atmosphere seems to cry out in the night, yearning and calling for an escape from the heated and feverish sense of claustrophobia that seems to be almost-omnipresent here. It's powerful stuff to say the least, and makes no apologies about its core emotions - agony, ecstasy, passion, love, desperation and loneliness. As the lyrics to Suicide Tuesday repeat: "Oh let me out. Oh let me out".