Gothic alt-poppers The DSM IV will release new EP Negative Utopia on January 31 and it’s pretty funky.
Pink Lady opens with a cool riff and electronic tint as Guy McKnight’s entrancing vocals shine through.
The synths are turned right up for a proper synth wave intro to Pray Like a Fool. Lyrically the track focuses on a religious theme of the war and persecution in Palestine and the chorus’ overlaying vocals are an interesting touch. The synths are extremely catchy and at times can detract from the seriousness of the lyrical content.
I think Racist Man RMX is my stand out track. The way the vocals change to match the intensity of the instrumentation adds to the intensity.
Isolation has a more rocky sound to start which is nice but I feel like it’s the weaker song on the EP as it is hyper repetitive in comparison to the rest.
Pennywise Hologram Cowboy RMX is the most stand out track for its difference. It’s sombre but the vocals are extremely difficult for me to understand as they sound very distorted. It’s quite disappointing actually as I really like the instrumentation, but the vocals ruin it.
The electro-gothic element of Negative Utopia would not be out of place on an 80s new wave playlist. It’s an EP that really captured me on the synth front and it definitely took multiple listens to fully take in the lyrics because I kept getting distracted by the danceability of the instrumentation.
Unfortunately the last two songs do detract from the overall quality of the EP in my opinion, but I absolutely love the first four!
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