Lords of Acid newest single”El Mundo Está Loco” is out today, June 12, 2026 through Metropolis Records. The single features the New York City duo Tony & The Kiki and is the third Lords of Acid single of 2026. It is available to stream and through the band’s Bandcamp page. The title translates as “the world is crazy”.

The track combines electronic beats and Latin-inspired hooks with a vocal exchange between Lords of Acid and Tony & The Kiki. Metropolis Records describes “El Mundo Está Loco” as “a dance floor anthem for a world that seems to be getting crazier by the day”.

Tony & The Kiki are a New York glam-rock duo formed in 2021 by vocalist Anthony Alfaro and keyboardist Rodney Bush. The pair appeared as one of the guest acts on the recently completed “Cheeky Freaky Tour” of the United States with Lords of Acid. “El Mundo Está Loco” is a digital single; no physical format has been announced.

“El Mundo Está Loco” follows the 2026 singles “Karaoke Superstar” and “Dream Boy”. Side-Line already covered “Karaoke Superstar”, a collaboration with vocalist and DJ Princess Superstar. “Dream Boy” features Carla Harvey, the group’s current vocalist. All three songs are set to appear on a seventh Lords of Acid studio album due in late 2026, first reported by Side-Line alongside the band’s “Cheeky Freaky” US tour. The label states the album will feature further guest vocalists alongside Harvey.

About Lords of Acid

Lords of Acid formed in Antwerp, Belgium in 1988 around producer Praga Khan (Maurice Engelen). The group combined techno, acid house, New Beat and industrial elements with lyrics centred on sexuality, drug culture and hedonism. They debuted with the single “I Sit On Acid”, and their first album “Lust” followed in 1991. Subsequent releases placed the group on the Billboard dance and alternative charts, and the band has maintained a long-running international touring schedule.

The current line-up includes vocalist Carla Harvey, formerly of Butcher Babies, whom is the band’s new singer since January 2025. “El Mundo Está Loco” continues the run of 2026 singles leading toward the group’s seventh studio album.

Stolen, the post-punk/electronic band from Chengdu, China, play two London shows at The George Tavern on July 12 and 13, 2026. The concerts are the final stop of the band’s current tour.

The two July dates follow the band’s previous London appearance at Scala on October 6, 2024, which was part of their “I Generated” UK and European tour. You can order your tickets right here.

“Cacophonic Symphony” is the band’s latest studio album. The nine-track record, which includes the songs “Electric Baby”, “Bouquet”, “Polythene Town” and “Dress Code”, appeared in April 2026 as a self-released album.

About Stolen

Stolen formed in Chengdu, in China’s Sichuan province; and more precisely at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music in 2009. The line-up consists of Liang Yi (vocals), FangDe (guitar), JunYang (bass), YuFeng (drums) and Duan Xuan (keyboards), joined since 2012 by French visual artist Formol, who handles the band’s live visuals.

After the EP “Strange Old-fashioned Entertainment” (2013) and the album “Loop” (2015, D Force Records), the band began working with Berlin-based producer Mark Reeder, who produced their 2017 self-titled EP. Reeder, together with Micha Adam, also produced the album “Fragment”, released on October 26, 2018 through Reeder’s reactivated MFS label. The Reeder connection led to the band opening for New Order on a run of European dates in October 2019, including shows in Berlin and Paris.

The album “Eroded Creation” followed on December 19, 2022, and the EP “I Generated” in September 2024, supported by a UK and European tour that year. “Cacophonic Symphony”, released in April 2026, is the band’s most recent album, and the July dates at The George Tavern are the band’s first announced London shows since its release.

Below is the love release “Dance Tunnel 26′ Long Mix (live)” on which the band deconstructed and rearranged several of the band’s classic works, adapting them to their current sound. Tracks included are “Electric Baby”, “Space Intruders”, “Pay”, “AI Arena”, “Copy Shop”, “Why We Choose To Die In Berlin” and “Overfeed”. The whole comes as a 26+ minute long track.

AD Ozium, the Washington, D.C. project led by Jeremy Moore, released the album “In the Style of Dead Sparrows” offering a mix of drone, noise and dark ambient. The release is available through the project’s Bandcamp page.

On this new release Moore weaves folk, jazz and no wave into a continuous, structure-less form. The album is available via the project’s Bandcamp page.

The album follows “If Membership Is Slumber”, a two-track release that pairs the vocal piece “Terrorgramophone” with the instrumental “Lifespring”.

About AD Ozium

AD Ozium is a Washington, D.C.-based project by Jeremy Moore. The project combines folk, jazz, no wave, dark ambient and noise rock elements with abrasive textures, fractured rhythms, drones, loops and unstable guitar passages. Moore handles guitars, synthesis, drones, loops and noise, with vocals also credited on the earlier release “If Membership Is Slumber”.

The project appeared publicly in 2026 through Saccharine Underground, the Washington, D.C. musical collective, artist network and non-profit label connected to Moore’s wider body of work. At Side-Line we previously covered Moore’s related projects in Zabus release second album in three months: “The Future of Death” – Out now and Bell Barrow drops debut LP “CoreCore Pulp” – Out now.

The first AD Ozium release, “If Membership Is Slumber”, was issued on May 19, 2026. The two-track release contains “Terrorgramophone” and “Lifespring”. The material was recorded between January and March 2026 at The Prisoner’s Cinema in Washington, D.C., engineered by Andy Baldwin at Metropolis Studios in April 2026 and produced by Moore.

The project’s next release, “In the Style of Dead Sparrows”, followed on June 9, 2026. The 10-track digital album includes “Lifespring”, “Tender Loving Seed”, “Whore of Sound”, “Music From The Opfer’s Box”, “Faith Is A Hole”, “Portents of The Terminal Mind”, “The Nazarene Distortion”, “Death Valley Superbloom”, “Throne Verse” and “A Practical Act of Prowess”. This album was recorded between January and February 2026 at The Prisoner’s Cinema in Washington, D.C. as well, and was engineered by Andy Baldwin at Metropolis Studios in May 2026 and produced by Moore. Moore also created the cover concept and design.

AD Ozium sits close to his more textural and unstable work. Zabus used progressive post-punk, proto-goth and electronic percussion structures, while his other project Bell Barrow moved into instrumental noise, power electronics, free jazz psychedelia and avant-garde black metal.

“In the Style of Dead Sparrows” is available as a digital album through AD Ozium’s Bandcamp page.

London dark electronic duo Palindrones have released a new single, “The Blood Moon“, it’s available now on Bandcamp. The track arrives with an accompanying music video.

Palindrones described “The Blood Moon” as “a dark, hypnotic journey through the tides, storms, sin and submission,” adding that the single is “a tale of the cycles of destruction, renewal and the ancient currents that flow beneath human experience.” The band furthermore says that “like the celestial body that gives the song its name, it pulls listeners into a world where scars become constellations, rivers run red, and every ending delivers the seed of creation.”

Here is the music video for “The Blood Moon”.

About Palindrones

Palindrones is a dark electronic duo from South London, who describe their sound as “dreamy Industrial Synthpop” with “pounding rhythms, haunting, evocative vocals and esoteric ambiance.” The project consists of Karen and Jamie.

Side-Line first covered the duo in April 2023, when it premiered the ‘Samadhi’ single and video from its then-upcoming second album, “Chapter One: With Fearful Velocity.” In March 2025, the duo returned with the ‘Animus’ single and video. The act has also worked with the goth band Hurtsfall, which issued a Palindrones remix of its track “Adore Me” as a World Goth Day free download. “The Blood Moon,” released on June 12, 2026, is the duo’s latest single.

(Photo via GRIT PHOTOZINE) Boy Harsher, the American darkwave duo, have announced “The Heartbreak Tour”, a North American run that opens on June 26, 2026 in San Francisco and resumes for a main leg from September 25 to November 5, 2026 across the United States and Canada. Tickets go on sale on June 12, 2026 at 10 a.m. local time.

The Heartbreak Tour is the duo’s first extensive North American headlining run since the 2022 touring for their short film and soundtrack “The Runner”. Jae Matthews and Augustus Muller open on June 26 at 1015 Folsom in San Francisco, then begin the main leg on September 25 at Basilica Hudson in Hudson, New York. The routing moves through Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Oakland, Los Angeles, Del Mar, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Fort Worth, New Orleans, Atlanta, Asheville, Washington, Philadelphia and Queens, where it closes on November 5 at Knockdown Center. The schedule includes two-night stands at Chicago’s Metro, Portland’s Revolution Hall and Seattle’s The Showbox.

Boy Harsher tour dates 2026

Support on select dates comes from Choir Boy, Evanora Unlimited, True Blue and Kassie Krut. The October 24 date in Fort Worth is part of Sick New World – DFW.

• June 26 – San Francisco, CA – 1015 Folsom
• September 25 – Hudson, NY – Basilica Hudson
• September 27 – Boston, MA – Royale
• September 29 – Montreal, QC – MTELUS
• September 30 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall
• October 1 – Detroit, MI – Majestic Theatre
• October 2 – Chicago, IL – Metro
• October 3 – Chicago, IL – Metro
• October 4 – Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theater
• October 6 – Denver, CO – Summit
• October 9 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall
• October 10 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall
• October 11 – Seattle, WA – The Showbox
• October 12 – Seattle, WA – The Showbox
• October 13 – Vancouver, BC – The Pearl
• October 15 – Oakland, CA – Fox Theater
• October 16 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium
• October 17 – Del Mar, CA – The Sound
• October 20 – Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues
• October 21 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
• October 24 – Fort Worth, TX – Sick New World – DFW
• October 26 – New Orleans, LA – Republic NOLA
• October 27 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
• October 28 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel
• October 30 – Washington, DC – The Howard Theatre
• October 31 – Philadelphia, PA – Franklin Music Hall (Making Time Pure Halloween)
• November 5 – Queens, NY – Knockdown Center

Tickets go on sale on June 12, 2026 at 10 a.m. local time. Boy Harsher have not announced European dates as part of this run.

About Boy Harsher

Boy Harsher formed in 2014 in Savannah, Georgia, where vocalist Jae Matthews and producer Augustus Muller met in film school. The pair first worked together as Teen Dreamz in 2013, mixing Matthews’s spoken word with Muller’s electronics, before renaming the project Boy Harsher and releasing the home-recorded EP “Lesser Man” the same year. They later relocated to Northampton, Massachusetts.

The duo released their debut album “Yr Body Is Nothing” in 2016 through DKA Records, followed by the “Country Girl” EP in 2017. In 2018 they set up their own label, Nude Club, and reissued earlier material. Their second studio album, Boy Harsher – Careful (CD Album – Nude Club Records), arrived on February 1, 2019, with the remix set “Careful Remixes, etc.” issued the same year.

In January 2022 Matthews and Muller released their directorial debut, the short film “The Runner”, with an accompanying soundtrack, followed with festival appearances including Primavera Sound, Roadburn and Coachella. In November 2024 the duo featured on Pet Shop Boys’ double A-side single “New London Boy / All The Young Dudes”, while Muller continued his Safe Mind project with Cooper B. Handy.

The Heartbreak Tour is the duo’s first extended North American headlining run since the 2022 cycle around “The Runner”, returning Boy Harsher to the stage with shows from June through November 2026.

The Spanish group Culture Kultür has been active since the early ’90s and experienced its heyday during the Future-Pop craze. “Atomic” is their first brand-new studio album since “Humanity” in 2019. Last year, however, they released a sort of retrospective record with “Time”.

“Atomic” quickly makes it clear that Future-Pop still has a future — or rather, that there are still artists exploring the genre further and achieving high-quality results. The album builds upon the solid foundations these Spaniards laid years ago. The music is highly danceable and features strong choruses that elevate the songs to another level. Elements of Dance, Trance, and dark Electro-Pop occasionally surface, blending seamlessly with the Future-Pop style. While the record does not necessarily sound groundbreaking, Culture Kultür delivers a very polished and refined production. Add to that the excellent vocal production, and you get an album filled with potential hits, some of which were already clearly foreshadowed by the previously released singles.

“Atomic” is an album that will get people dancing and put a smile on their faces. As far as I’m concerned, it comes highly recommended for fans of the genre. (Rating:8½).

Watch the clip “Atomic Radio”:

Today the German EBM and electro duo Digital Factor have officially released their new album “0.8” through the Belgian label Alfa Matrix. The twelve-track record arrives on CD (available via Alfa Matrix), and in digital formats. It follows the band’s 2021 album “A Chemical Process” and the 2023 charity album “G.B.A. – General Behavior Abrogate“.

The band now is a duo with Mike Langer and permanent new member Gwendolyn Gaffa who already contributed on the EP “They Will Forget You (When You Die)” and on the 2023 charity single “I Am What I Am“, released as a free download.

We published a full interview with Digital factor two days ago.

‘0.8’ tracklist, guests and 1980s concept

The album contains twelve tracks and two guest features. Franziska Haucke appears on “Never”, and Marie-Luis Kiessling features on “We Are Blind”.

The record is a return to the band’s formative era, diving deep into the musical and cultural DNA of the 1980s. The first single “They Will Forget You (When You Die)” for instance already carries a nod to Depeche Mode’s “People Are People”, while the album track “Time” is presented as a homage to Kraftwerk.

Langer also used a special production method for “0.8”. He deliberately stepped away from modern production perfection, using stripped-down setups and monophonic synths to recreate the raw textures and subtle imperfections of early electronic music.

Good to know, “Feel To Little” uses speech fragments from Charlie Chaplin films, while “Never” is set to a James Bond-style atmosphere.

About Digital Factor

The band formed in 1993 in Altenburg, Germany. The founding lineup consisted of Torsten Heise, Mike Langer and Tino Schmidt. The project first brought a mix of EBM and electro, later adding techno, synth-pop and crossover elements,. They played early live support for acts such as Placebo Effect and X Marks the Pedwalk.

The band’s first release was the 1994 EP “F.A.L.L.I.N.G.- Down” on Hard Records. A move to Hyperium and Hypnobeat followed, bringing the debut album “Relationchips” in 1995 and the conceptual second album “On Demand” in 1996.

Further releases included “De Facto” and “Countercheck” in 1997 and “Over One Million Times” in 1999, then “One More Piece” in 2006, “Look Back To Go Forward” in 2009 and “Trialog” in 2011. Tino Schmidt left the band in its earlier years, and in 2010 Torsten Heise left and was replaced by Leo von Leibnitz.

The band joined Alfa Matrix in 2020 and released the single and video ‘Come With Me’ in October of the same year.

The album “A Chemical Process” arrived in 2021, alongside remastered reissues of the back catalogue. The EP “What?” followed in 2022, and 2023 brought the charity single “I Am What I Am“, the “Ouvre” EP and the charity album “G.B.A. – General Behavior Abrogate“.

In April 2026, the EP “They Will Forget You (When You Die)” previewed the new album “0.8”, out now on Alfa Matrix.

Today Kant Kino releases the new album “Echoes of The End” via Alfa Matrix. The Oslo duo’s new record is available as the digital “Echoes of The End (Deluxe Edition)” on Bandcamp and as a physical 2CD from the Alfa Matrix store. The double albums features no less then 24 tracks, with four advance cuts that were released earlier: “Rodney”, “Defeat”, “The End”, and “Lie”.

The new album comes 9 years after the band’s previous full album, “Kopfkino“, which was released in 2017.

The album follows the February 2026 comeback EP “Rodney: End-State Variations“, which introduced the track “Rodney” in an EP edit alongside six remixes. When that EP appeared, the band described the song as dealing with “personal relationships and social structures” that drift toward “emotional and structural end-states.”

You can check the 7-track EP out below on Bandcamp and all other download and streaming platforms.

About Kant Kino

Kant Kino is a Norwegian electronic duo from Oslo, namely Lars Henrik Madsen and Kenneth Fredstie. The project formed after they wrote a tribute track for the ElektroStat festival, after which a Bunkertracks compilation appearance led to their Alfa Matrix signing.

The duo’s debut album, “We Are Kant Kino – You Are Not”, appeared in 2010. It was followed by the “LRSBSS EP” on April 15, 2012, then the second full-length “Father Worked In Industry” on February 22, 2013. “Father Worked In Industry” was mixed and mastered by Claus Larsen of Leaether Strip. That release also produced the download singles “Just For The Comfort Of Sleep EP” on March 26, 2013 and “Ich Liebe Katarina Witt EP” on November 22, 2013.

While working toward the third album, the band previewed new material with the teaser “Life” in February 2016. While working on a new album, they self-released the Motörhead/Kraftwerk hybrid “We Are The Roadcrew (Robots)” on December 16, 2016, ahead of “Kopfkino”, which was released on Alfa Matrix on January 13, 2017.

In May 2017, Alfa Matrix built the first “Matrix:Reb00ted” volume around Kant Kino remixes. The duo later appeared on the Coldkill vs Kant Kino EP “Silent Morning” in 2018, released the Depeche Mode cover single “Pimpf and Touch Faith” in September 2019, and self-released “Enough! (Demo)” on June 30, 2022.

Kenneth Fredstie in the meantime mastered “Face The Beat: Session 3” and Kant Kino contributed “Ich Liebe Katarina Witt (Video Edit)” and “Life (No Fucking Guitars Edit)” to the Face The Beat series. They also contributed a remix for Modulo One’s “No Way to Win”, and remixed the Side-Line charity single “Ukraina” in December 2022. In February 2026, Kant Kino returned with “Rodney: End-State Variations”. And now there is the brand new full-length “Echoes of The End”.

PIG, the industrial project of English musician Raymond Watts, has announced the PIG “Hurt People Tour”, a North American run of 44 shows in fall 2026 in support of the album “Hurt People Hurt“, released May 22, 2026 via Metropolis Records. The tour starts on August 27 in Lawrence, Kansas and ends on October 18 in Detroit, Michigan.

The 44 shows include the band’s previously announced appearances at the Cold Waves XIV festival events in Los Angeles (September 11), Austin (September 18) and Chicago (September 25). An initial 40-date itinerary has been published, with further shows to be added. The August 28 date in Denver is billed with Nitzer Ebb. Ticket links are collected on the band’s official website.

Before the North American run, PIG play two previously announced sold-out shows in Tokyo on June 25 and 26, with UK dates to follow in December.

PIG ‘Hurt People Tour’ dates: North America fall 2026

• Thu, Aug 27 – Lawrence, KS – The Bottleneck
• Fri, Aug 28 – Denver, CO – Summit (with Nitzer Ebb)
• Sat, Aug 29 – Salt Lake City, UT – Quarters DLC
• Mon, Aug 31 – Garden City, ID – Visual Arts Collective
• Wed, Sept 2 – Spokane, WA – Big Dipper
• Thu, Sept 3 – Bellingham, WA – The Shakedown
• Fri, Sept 4 – Seattle, WA – El Corazon
• Sat, Sept 5 – Portland, OR – Star Theater
• Mon, Sept 7 – Eugene, OR – John Henry’s
• Tue, Sept 8 – Eureka, CA – Savage Henry
• Wed, Sept 9 – Sacramento, CA – Cafe Colonial
• Thu, Sept 10 – San Francisco, CA – DNA Lounge
• Fri, Sept 11 – Los Angeles, CA – Cold Waves – Pacific Electric
• Sat, Sept 12 – Santa Ana, CA – La Santa
• Sun, Sept 13 – Phoenix, AZ – Last Exit Live
• Mon, Sept 14 – El Paso, TX – Bye Bye Dear
• Wed, Sept 16 – Dallas, TX – AM FM
• Thu, Sept 17 – San Antonio, TX – Paper Tiger
• Fri, Sept 18 – Austin, TX – Cold Waves – The Mohawk
• Sat, Sept 19 – Little Rock, AR – Birdie’s
• Sun, Sept 20 – St. Louis, MO – Red Flag
• Wed, Sept 23 – Davenport, IA – Raccoon Motel
• Fri, Sept 25 – Chicago, IL – Cold Waves – The Metro
• Sat, Sept 26 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Tavern
• Sun, Sept 27 – Baltimore, MD – Metro Gallery
• Tue, Sept 29 – Syracuse, NY – The Song and Dance
• Thu, Oct 1 – Philadelphia, PA – Nikki Lopez
• Fri, Oct 2 – Brooklyn, NY – Saint Vitus
• Sat, Oct 3 – Millersville, PA – Phantom Power
• Sun, Oct 4 – Richmond, VA – Fallout
• Mon, Oct 5 – Greenville, SC – Radio Room
• Wed, Oct 7 – Atlanta, GA – Drunken Unicorn
• Thu, Oct 8 – Orlando, FL – Conduit
• Fri, Oct 9 – Tampa, FL – Orpheum
• Tue, Oct 13 – Columbus, OH – Rumba
• Wed, Oct 14 – Pittsburgh, PA – Sidequest
• Thu, Oct 15 – Hamilton, ON – Mill’s Hardware
• Fri, Oct 16 – Montreal, QC – Toscadura
• Sat, Oct 17 – Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace
• Sun, Oct 18 – Detroit, MI – Smalls

‘Hurt People Hurt’: the album behind the tour

“Hurt People Hurt” was released on May 22, 2026 via Metropolis Records on CD, limited edition LP and digital. The 10-track album was largely co-written by Watts with guitarist Jim Davies, known for his work with The Prodigy and Pitchshifter. Two singles preceded it: the first single “Tosca’s Kiss” on March 6, 2026, with a video directed by E Gabriel Edvy.

And the second single “Sex & Suicide” on April 10, 2026, with a lyric video directed by Grete Stitch Laus. The album is available via pigindustries.bandcamp.com.

About PIG

PIG is the long-running industrial rock project of English musician Raymond Watts, which he formed in 1988 after earlier work in London, Hamburg, and West Berlin. Before launching the project, Watts had already worked on early KMFDM material with En Esch and Sascha Konietzko, and had also been active as a live and studio sound engineer for Einstürzende Neubauten and Psychic TV. He later toured with Foetus on keyboards and guitar.

The first release was “A Poke in the Eye… with a Sharp Stick”, followed by “Praise the Lard” (1991), “A Stroll in the Pork” (1992), “The Swining” (1993), “Sinsation” (1995), “Wrecked” (1996), “Genuine American Monster” (1999), and “Pigmartyr” (2004), later reissued as “Pigmata”. Small detail, several 1990s releases first appeared in Japan, including “The Swining” and “Wrecked”.

Watts is also a founding member and recurring collaborator of KMFDM. He rejoined that orbit in 1994 for the PIG vs KMFDM release “Sin Sex & Salvation”, later worked with the Japanese projects Schaft and Schwein, and also wrote music and sound design for fashion and exhibition work, including Alexander McQueen’s “Plato’s Atlantis” and the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition “Punk: Chaos to Couture”.

After the Watts release “Pigmartyr”, the project resumed under the PIG name with “The Gospel” on September 9, 2016, followed by “Risen” on June 8, 2018 and the covers album “Candy” on June 21, 2019. The project then returned with “Pain Is God” on November 20, 2020, followed by “The Merciless Light” on September 23, 2022. That run continued with “Red Room” on May 17, 2024, the “Feast of Agony” EP on September 27, 2024, the remastered “Wrecked” on March 7, 2025, and the remix album “The Merciful Night” on November 14, 2025.

Jim Davies was a recurring collaborator the past few years. And now there is the brand new album “Hurt People Hurt”.

Warsaw-based industrial pop project Miss Configure has released the single “Token Weighting”. The track is the fourth release in “The Ten Configurations”, the project’s ongoing concept series, and turns its attention to AI companionship. The single is a one-track digital release with a running time of 3:23, available on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and other streaming platforms.

An official visualizer for the track is available as well.

Miss Configure’s ‘Token Weighting’ in ‘The Ten Configurations’ series

With this single ythe series’ narrative shifts “from algorithmic evaluation to synthetic intimacy”, exploring “how loneliness becomes indexable data and affection turns into a subscription model”, with the track taking what the band calls “a deceptively soft and inviting approach” to the illusion of a “perfect digital companion”.

“Token Weighting” follows the singles “Spoiler Alert” (January 9, 2026), “Human_Resources” (February 13, 2026) and “Confidence Score” (May 1, 2026). Earlier singles in the series appeared via None Other Records.

About Miss Configure

Miss Configure is an audio-visual project built around a digital persona described as an “AI Diva” and “Digital Aristocrat”, created and directed by Warsaw-based producer Jacek Fiszer, who is credited as the project’s “architect”. The project uses generative AI as what it calls a “synthetic co-creator” and applies pop song structures to commentary on automation, digital optimisation and human-AI relations.

The project debuted with the single “Spoiler Alert” on January 9, 2026, the first entry in “The Ten Configurations” series. It was followed on February 13, 2026 by “Human_Resources”, which addressed the hidden human labor behind AI systems and content moderation, and on May 1, 2026 by “Confidence Score”, which dealt with algorithmic evaluation. “Token Weighting”, released June 5, 2026, continues the series as its fourth chapter, with a fifth release announced for July 2026.

Berlin-based dark electro and darkwave duo NNHMN have released the single “Touch Me”. The track previews the eight-track EP “Opera of Lust & the Art of Sorrow II”, due July 15, 2026 on K-Dreams Records on vinyl and as a digital release. The EP can be pre-ordered on Bandcamp, and a video for the track is online as well.

‘Touch Me’ previews ‘Opera of Lust & the Art of Sorrow II’

The duo of Lee and Michal Laudarg presents the single as a warmer counterpoint to the EP’s melancholic side. The other tracks on the EP include “Say my name”, “Touch me”, “Cold like Steel”, “Strange Love”, “Gangster”, “Feelings”, “Mannequin”, and “Golden Crime”. Earlier singles “Say My Name”, “Cold Like Steel”, and “Strange Love” preceded “Touch Me” in the run-up to the release.

The EP follows “Opera of Lust & the Art of Sorrow I”, the first chapter in the series. In the May 2026 Side-Line feature NNHMN interview: “We are evolutionists”, Michal Laudarg confirmed the project was already looking past the second part: “Now we are in the world of ‘Opera of Lust and The Art of Sorrow Part Two,’ but the material for the new album already exists.”

About NNHMN

NNHMN is a Berlin-based dark electronic duo formed by Lee and Michal Laudarg. The project name is read as “non-human”. The pair worked together in earlier projects under different names before starting NNHMN.

The album “Church Of No Religion” appeared on the Polish label Zoharum, followed in 2019 by the EP “Shadow In The Dark”, first issued as a limited cassette. In February 2020 the duo launched “Shadow in the Dark” on vinyl through the Spanish label Oraculo Records. The same year brought the “Deception Island” material, including the 12-inch EP “Deception Island Part 1” on Oraculo Records, and a first Side-Line Click Interview with NNHMN.

In May 2022 the duo returned with the 4-track EP “For The Comfort Of Your Exstacy” and a video, released via Young and Cold Records and K-Dreams Records. In April 2023 NNHMN re-released previous EPs on one album as “Deception Island 2“, with an extra track. A few singles were released as well: “Your Body”, “Tomorrow’s Heroine”, and “Bring It On”.

The “Opera of Lust & the Art of Sorrow” series opened with part one, supported by singles including “Bring It On” and “The Secret”. With “Touch Me”, NNHMN deliver the latest preview of “Opera of Lust & the Art of Sorrow II” before its July 15, 2026 release on K-Dreams Records.

Two long-deleted studio albums by the German electronic act Rotersand are back in circulation. The Rotersand “Capitalism TM” album from 2016 and “How Do You Feel Today” from 2020 are available again on CD in their Metropolis Records US editions, the distributor Audioglobe announced. The original Trisol editions of both records had been sold out and deleted for years.

Rotersand ‘Capitalism TM’ and ‘How Do You Feel Today’: release history

“Capitalism TM”, Rotersand’s fifth studio album, was originally released on November 4, 2016 via Trisol and was the band’s first album since “Random Is Resistance” (2009). The 10-track record includes the single “Hey You”, which later lent its title to a full-length remix album. Side-Line covered the original release in 2016 (Rotersand finally hits back with new work: ‘Capitalism TM’) and reviewed it (Rotersand – Capitalism TM (CD Album – Trisol)).

“How Do You Feel Today”, the band’s sixth studio album, followed on March 13, 2020 via Trisol, issued both as a vinyl-plus-CD edition and as a regular CD; both editions sold out. The 11-track album contains “Hot Ashes”, “Whatever”, “Silence” and “Elements”, and was reviewed by Side-Line (Rotersand – How Do You Feel Today? (Album – Trisol / Metropolis Records)). The returning US edition is a digipak CD.

About Rotersand

Rotersand is a German electronic project formed in 2002 by singer Rascal Hüppe and musician/producer Gun, with producer and DJ Krischan J.-E. Wesenberg joining shortly after. The band’s sound is generally described as futurepop, while the members themselves refer to it as “industrial pop”. The debut album “Truth Is Fanatic” appeared in 2003, followed by “Welcome to Goodbye” (2005), “1023” (2007) and “Random Is Resistance” (2009); the first two were reissued in 2021.

After “Capitalism TM” (2016) and “How Do You Feel Today” (2020), the latter also reworked as the remix album “Reloaded (Reworks of How Do You Feel Today)” in August 2020, the band released its most recent studio album “Don’t Become The Thing You Hated” in 2025 via Metropolis and Trisol. Side-Line spoke with the band in a 2026 interview. The renewed availability of “Capitalism TM” and “How Do You Feel Today” closes a gap in the band’s catalogue that had persisted since the Trisol pressings sold out.

Mike Langer on “0.8”, the 1980s and why Digital Factor still refuses completion

Digital Factor’s eighth album, “0.8”, out this Friday 12 July on Alfa Matrix on CD and as download, treats the 1980s as a working method rather than a nostalgic costume. For Mike Langer, the decade becomes a way to think about machines, melody, discipline and risk. The result is a record shaped by research, studio obsession and the strange pleasure of understanding the past more clearly after years of distance.

The title began as a reference to the 80s, yet it also opens a much wider idea: Digital Factor as a project still moving toward something without wanting to arrive too neatly. In Mike’s words, reaching “1.0” would almost be a shame, because completion can also mean the end of curiosity. In this interview, he speaks about old synthesizers, unconscious influences, Gwendolyn Gaffa’s role in the current line-up, the therapeutic function of machines, video mapping, repetition, female guest vocalists, acoustic drums, social responsibility and the next step beyond familiar patterns.

Digital Factor Interview

Karo: An eighth album is a strange point in an artist’s life. It is far enough from the beginning to carry history, but still close enough to the future to demand risk. When you started working on “0.8”, did you feel more pressure from your own past, or from the question of what Digital Factor can still become?

Mike: To be honest, I don’t dwell on that too much. During the preparation and production of an album, I am usually deeply absorbed in the technical and conceptual possibilities.

For 0.8, the studio equipment itself was actually a primary focus beforehand. I wanted every track to capture a distinct 1980s vibe, and the synthesizers and drum machines had to authentically reflect that. Ultimately, working on a new record is always a step into the future. The past only really plays a role for me in ensuring that I don’t simply copy the established Digital Factor style onto a new album.

Karo: The title “0.8” immediately suggests something that is measurable, coded, almost clinical, yet incomplete. It feels like a number that refuses to become one. Does that reflect how you currently see Digital Factor: as something precise, electronic and structured, but still unfinished in a very human way?

Mike: Oh, that’s a fascinating interpretation—one I actually hadn’t considered. Originally, the title “0.8” was simply a nod to the 1980s and the massive influence that decade had on this record. After all, it’s the first Digital Factor album that is a concept album purely in a musical sense, rather than a lyrical one.

But your reading of it isn’t so far off. In a way, you are always chasing a specific sound, getting just a little bit closer to it with every release. Reaching ‘1.0,’ however, would almost be a shame, because it would imply that the project is complete and finalized. Right now, I feel highly motivated to keep making music well beyond version 1.0. There is certainly no shortage of ideas.

Karo: Many artists speak about influence as if it were a list of names. I am more interested in influence as a wound, a memory, or a technical instinct that enters your hands before you even notice it. What part of your musical past still controls you when you work, and what part have you finally learned to control?

Mike: That is a really great question. I have been making electronic music for over 30 years now, and I still learn something new with every single production. However, my approach to synthesizers, harmonies, and melodies is much more deliberate today. I usually have a clear idea in my head before I even start executing it. In the past, these elements emerged much more organically through musical experimentation and the general flow of the production process.

Yet, despite this intentional approach, unconscious influences are always at work. For example, whenever I play a new track for my wife, she often points out that it unmistakably ‘sounds like me,’ even if it completely deviates stylistically from my previous songs. So, inevitably, my subconscious always finds its way into the music.

Karo: Digital Factor have existed long enough to experience several versions of electronic music culture: physical releases, underground networks, club circulation, digital platforms, nostalgia waves and algorithmic attention. Which of these changes has affected you most as an artist, not commercially, but emotionally?

Mike: I believe my career choices—and the creative freedom they provide—remain my greatest influence to this day. I work both visually and musically for film, television, and theater. This grants me significantly more financial security than I would likely have if I pursued Digital Factor purely as a full-time professional musician.

Consequently, I am able to realize Digital Factor as a concept completely detached from any commercial pressure. It also gives me the financial liberty to design and equip my studio exactly the way I envision it. Ultimately, this fundamental freedom is what shapes my work with DF the most.

Furthermore, the artistic network I collaborate with has a profound impact on me. Interestingly, very few of these creatives come from the specific music scene in which Digital Factor operates. This outside perspective sparks new ideas that we then bring to life together. For instance, with the live project “Digital Factor Spheres,” I seamlessly merge my video art with my music. Similarly, performing as a musician for an annual live radio play challenges me in completely different and refreshing ways.

Karo: This album seems to come from a tension between discipline and vulnerability. The structures are electronic and controlled, yet many titles suggest blindness, memory, forgetting, time, darkness and fragile states of mind. Do you see machines as a way to hide emotion, or as a way to make emotion more exact?

Mike: I consider myself a fairly positive person; I usually prefer to tune out the ever-present darkness in life. Yet, my lyrics deliberately explore the dystopian facets of human nature. Because of this contrast, Digital Factor is very therapeutic for me, providing a vital equilibrium. The machines serve as the medium—they are the carriers that channel and transport these heavier emotions.

Karo: With Gwendolyn Gaffa now officially part of the band, Digital Factor is no longer only a project built around your own inner architecture. What did her presence disturb in a productive way? Did she change the sound, the atmosphere, or the way you hear yourself inside the project?

Mike: While I truly enjoyed having complete artistic control over the last few albums, Digital Factor originally started as a three-piece band, and that dynamic was always a crucial element of our live performances. Up until G.B.A., I was fully convinced that the project would never return to the stage. However, working with Gwendolyn made me realize that bringing even improvised musical elements into a live setting is entirely possible. Beyond that, her voice is truly exceptional.

So, while I retained the overall creative direction, I was more than happy to frequently hand the vocal duties over to Gwen. When I wrote the tracks she sings on, I already had her voice in my head—in that sense, she was a profound inspiration for the album. On top of that, she is a brilliant guitarist who can translate my ideas instantly.

Funnily enough, when it comes to playing live, Gwendolyn is actually the one who holds the musical authority. I am often too lazy to count bars, so she is the perfect person to give me my cues.

Karo: There is a difference between looking back and being haunted. “0.8” seems interested in the past, but it does not sound comfortable. When you return to earlier electronic textures, do they feel like home, or do they remind you how much has been lost, simplified or misunderstood since then?

Mike: In fact, it wasn’t until I started working on 0.8 that I truly began to understand many songs from the 80s. As part of my research for the album, I watched countless documentaries about the musicians and bands of that era. My conclusion is that musicologists are absolutely right: it is the most formative decade for rock and pop.

Unfortunately, much of the incredible diversity and virtuosity of that musical period has since been lost. You can see this contrast clearly today. On one hand, musicians from that era are experiencing massive renewed success; on the other hand, you constantly hear poorly executed 80s samples and musical quotes in contemporary dance and hip-hop tracks. It makes you realize that the music of the 80s isn’t just being misunderstood right now—it is being exploited, largely to cover up a lack of original ideas.

Karo: Electronic music often speaks through repetition, and repetition can mean many things: pleasure, obsession, memory, trauma, hypnosis, discipline. On this album, what role does repetition play for you? Is it a musical tool, or a way of thinking?

Mike: Fundamentally, I work a lot within classic song structures. While certain motifs naturally repeat, my goal is always to break them apart and evolve them through new melodic lines or sound design. Because of this, the first verse rarely sounds exactly like the second. I view repetition primarily as a tool to establish a song’s central leitmotif and make it tangible for the listener.

However, 0.8 also features tracks that we designed for our live project, Spheres, which incorporates complex video mapping. In that specific context, musical repetition takes on an entirely different function: it steps back to direct the audience’s focus toward the visual installation.

Karo: After so many years, how do you protect yourself from becoming too fluent in your own language? When you know your tools, your moods and your instincts very well, where do you search for friction?

Mike: Above all, working with other vocalists is a particular challenge that I really embrace—on 0.8, these guest singers happen to be exclusively women. I essentially tailor each song specifically to the intended singer. I am also constantly experimenting. For instance, 0.8 marks the first time I have incorporated a custom-built modular system. Similarly, for the track ‘They Will Forget You,’ I recorded an acoustic drum kit for a Digital Factor song for the very first time. The drummer, Kalle Vogel, has since even joined us on stage for one of our live shows. Ultimately, I am always searching for new creative possibilities.

Karo: “They Will Forget You” is a brutal sentence because it removes almost every illusion an artist might have about legacy. Do you make music against forgetting, despite forgetting, or because forgetting makes the act of creation more urgent?

Mike: “They Will Forget You (When You Die)” is intended to be both a harsh reflection of reality and a wake-up call. The truth is that many people will leave no mark after they pass. Leaving mindless hate comments on social media, going on an annual cruise, or rotting away in front of the television simply doesn’t create any lasting value.

I sit on the board of a socio-cultural center in my hometown, and every day I witness people who genuinely want to make a difference, driven entirely by selflessness. Every single one of them would leave a profound void if they were gone. At the same time, through their dedication to the building owned by our association, they have already built something that will outlast them. This song is ultimately directed at the others—the ones who simply can’t be bothered to get off their asses and contribute.

Karo: The current electronic scene often celebrates vintage sound, but sometimes the surface of the past becomes more important than its danger. What do you think younger artists understand well about early electronic music, and what do they perhaps miss?

Mike: That brings us right back to the 1980s. Electronic music, in particular, experienced its most significant evolution during that era. Unfortunately, I feel that this creative momentum really tapered off by the late 90s. Because of that, with 0.8, I felt it was important to look back and attempt to translate that classic sound into my own contemporary understanding. Ultimately, of course, the hope is that this process has given rise to something entirely distinct—and perhaps even something new.

Karo: If “0.8” is a chapter about memory, incompleteness and transformation, what would you still like Digital Factor to risk next? Not in terms of style, but in terms of honesty.

Mike: Digital Factor has always been a very honest project. We have always created the music we genuinely enjoy making – a principle I still stand by today, even if it hasn’t always pleased every single fan.

These days, we play an annual charity concert where there is hardly anyone from the typical electronic scene in the audience. Yet, the show is always a massive success because of our unique approach to performing electronic music live. Even veteran rock musicians have told us that it completely defied their expectations of the genre. I actually view this as a bit of a personal mission; I’ll sometimes even take a moment during a show to explain how a synthesizer actually works to the audience.

Right now, an exciting, major new project is taking shape. Unfortunately, I can’t reveal too much about it just yet, but I can promise this: Digital Factor will once again be breaking out of familiar patterns and stepping far off the beaten path.

German electronic project Neuroticfish has released “Skin26” via Non Ordinary Records. The four-track single revisits “Skin”, the first official Neuroticfish release from 1998, and offers a new 2026 version next to the original recording and two further versions. The download is available on Bandcamp, and a CD single is also sold through the Neuwerk Music shop.

‘tSkin26’ returns to a 1997 living-room recording

Sascha Mario Klein recorded “Skin” in 1997 in his living room with an eight-track recorder, three synthesizers, one sampler, and an SM-58 microphone. The track first appeared in 1998 on the Maschinenwelt compilation “A Reflexion Of Synthpop Vol. 1” and was the project’s first official release.

The single traces the journey of the song over nearly 30 years, including its 2002 evolution as “Skin Binary”, and its new incarnations as “Skin26” and “Skin (Deep)”.

About Neuroticfish

Neuroticfish is the electronic music project of Sascha Mario Klein from Germany. The project was founded in the early 1990s as Klein’s alter ego, bringing a mix of synth-pop, trance, industrial, and EBM under the concept “Music for a Paranormal Life”. Also part of the initial line-up was Henning Verlage (keyboards and production).

The project’s first official release was “Skin” on the 1998 compilation “A Reflexion Of Synthpop Vol. 1”. The debut album “No Instruments” followed on September 27, 1999, with “Les Chansons Neurotiques” released on July 2, 2002 and “Gelb” on February 15, 2005. The best-of compilation “A Greater Good (History 1998-2008)” appeared in 2008, after which the project went dormant. In a 2015 Side-Line item, Klein said about that period: “I felt exhausted and had the impression that I lost control about my artistic process“.

Neuroticfish returned with “A Sign Of Life” on March 27, 2015, followed by “Antidoron” in 2018, both on Non Ordinary Records. Klein discussed the project’s direction in a 2019 Click Interview with Neuroticfish on Side-Line. The album “The Demystification Of The Human Heart” followed in December 2023 on Non Ordinary Records. In 2024 the project contributed a remix to Solitary Experiments’ single “Träumen“.

With “Skin26”, released on June 2, 2026, the project returns to its earliest recording 28 years after “Skin” first appeared.

The German dark wave and synthpop act Silke Bischoff announce “Tears – A Collection of Silke Bischoff Songs”, out on September 4, 2026 via Dependent Records. The 14-track compilation gathers remastered catalogue tracks plus the previously unreleased title song “Tears”, and is announced alongside the first single “Northern Lights”, out digitally on June 10, 2026 on Bandcamp and Spotify. The announcement follows the band’s catalogue deal reported in May, when Silke Bischoff signed with Dependent Records for catalogue reissues.

“Northern Lights” was originally released in 1996 on I.N.R.I. Records.

The compilation is the first step in making their oeuvre available to the public again, after the band’s recordings spent years out of circulation. Internal friction, legal issues, and most of all the tragic passing of one of its founding members, Felix Flaucher, in the night of August 22-23, 2017, at the age of 59 after a long illness, has left their works in a limbo for many years.

Silke Bischoff ‘Tears’: tracklist and artbook edition

The tracks on the compilation were restored and newly mastered by Olaf Wollschläger at Cottonbeat Studio in Burscheid, Germany. Wollschläger has previously worked with Mesh, Yello, Melotron, and Beborn Beton. The opening track “Tears” is a previously unreleased archive recording featuring the vocals of the late Felix Flaucher. The whole was recorded and mixed by Axel Kretschmann at Kinderzimmer Studio in Berlin. The artwork is by the late Felix Flaucher.

The full tracklist: “Tears”, “I Don’t Love You Anymore”, “Under Your Skin”, “No Paradise”, “Northern Lights”, “The Union”, “The Man on the Wooden Cross”, “The Letter”, “On the Other Side”, “Ajna”, “Benetton Girl”, “Waste of Time”, “Sometimes”, and “To Protect and to Serve”.

The physical edition is a numbered, limited hardcover 48-page CD artbook with lyrics, photography by Felix Flaucher, and liner notes by the German author Mark Urban.

Silke Bischoff live dates in September 2026

Three German concerts follow the release:

• September 25, 2026 – Bochum (DE), Matrix
• September 26, 2026 – Leipzig (DE), Täubchenthal
• September 27, 2026 – Berlin (DE), Columbia Theater

The current line-up consists of Axel Kretschmann (vocals, keyboards, guitar), joined live by Markus Köster (drums) and Andy Simanowitz (piano, keyboards, background vocals).

About Silke Bischoff

Silke Bischoff was founded in 1990 by Axel Kretschmann and Felix Flaucher as a gothic and dark wave project. The band name refers to the 18-year-old hostage who was killed during the 1988 Gladbeck hostage crisis in Germany; the founders described the choice as an artistic memorial to the victim. After three two-track demo tapes and the underground club track “I Don’t Love You Anymore”, the self-titled debut album appeared in 1991.

Guitarist Frank Schwer joined as a full member on the second album “The Man on the Wooden Cross” (1993). “To Protect and to Serve” followed in 1995, with “Under Your Skin” becoming a club hit beyond the dark scene. The album “Northern Lights” appeared in 1996. Kretschmann left the band in 2002 due to internal differences, and after a legal dispute over the name, Flaucher and Schwer continued as 18 Summers.

In 2017, the reconciled members played a private performance among close friends shortly before Felix Flaucher died after a long illness.

At the 2025 edition of the Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig, Axel Kretschmann revived Silke Bischoff on stage with guest appearances by Deine Lakaien frontman Alexander Veljanov and Sven Friedrich (Dreadful Shadows, Zeraphine, Solar Fake).

With “Tears – A Collection of Silke Bischoff Songs”, the revived project delivers the first new Silke Bischoff release since the catalogue went out of circulation, with further restored reissues announced to follow in digital and physical form.

Diesel Christ was a German synthpop project built around songwriter and vocalist Tom Berger and a shifting circle of contributors including Klaus Gratzel, Thomas Harder, Chris Karagianidis, Chris Block, and executive producer Alex Sacher. The project released three main records: the Depeche Mode tribute album “Diesel Mode (A Tribute To The Masses)” – and the 4-track single “Walking In My Shoes (I Feel Different)” – in 1993 on Pop Factory!, the original-material CD EP “Gas Food Lodging” in November 1993 on SPV Records, and a second Depeche Mode tribute, “Diesel Mode 97”, in 1997 on Fun Factory!. Half of the project’s original recordings were ironically enough produced by John Fryer, the engineer who had worked on Depeche Mode’s first two albums at Blackwing Studios.

The tribute album appeared only two or three weeks after the original Depeche Mode release. “Songs Of Faith And Devotion” was released on March 22, 1993, while “Diesel Mode” was already in shops around early-to-mid April 1993. The chronology of the covered songs is telling. Of the five Depeche Mode tracks, only “I Feel You” had been publicly available before the album, released as a single in February 1993. “Walking In My Shoes“, “Rush”, “In Your Room”, and “Higher Love” were album tracks that had not yet been released.

Since recording at Principal Studios, mixing, glass mastering at DADC Austria, pressing, and distribution cannot be compressed into the two-to-three-week window , the Diesel Christ recordings were made quite before the original Depeche Mode album reached shops. How the project obtained the material ahead of release is not known, but it is believed they did obtain an early copy of the album ahead of the official release, either via the local Mute office or via befriended press people. Funny enough, Depeche Mode released “Walking In My Shoes” as the album’s second single on April 26, 1993. By that date, the Diesel Christ cover of the song was already recorded and pressed.

How the Diesel Christ synthpop project started

Diesel Christ grew out of Diesel, a German duo consisting of Klaus Gratzel and Thomas Berger. Diesel released one maxi-single, “Nowhereland”, in 1990 on Fun Factory! Records (FUNFAC M-3928), issued on 12″ vinyl and CD in several mixes. The song “Nowhereland” later reappeared on the 1993 Diesel Christ album “Gas Food Lodging”. To make it even more complicated, the project also recorded under the abbreviation D.C.

Diesel Christ would have seven members across the project’s lifespan: Tom Berger, Klaus Gratzel, Thomas Harder, Chris Karagianidis, Chris Block, Alex Sacher, and Robert Enforsen. The 1993 recordings featured Berger (vocals, guitar, main songwriter), Harder (bass, keyboards), and Karagianidis (drums), with Block on guitar and Gratzel contributing as co-writer. Sacher served as executive producer in 1993 and moved into the producer role for the 1997 album with Robert Enforsen on vocals.

‘Diesel Mode (A Tribute To The Masses)’: covering Depeche Mode in real time

“Diesel Mode (A Tribute To The Masses)” was issued in 1993 as a six-track CD album on Pop Factory!, distributed by SPV. The tracklist was as follows:

1. “Walking In My Shoes” (4:22)
2. “Rush” (2:23)
3. “In Your Room” (4:47)
4. “I Feel You” (4:05)
5. “Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?” (3:20)
6. “Higher Love” (4:26)

Five tracks are Martin L. Gore compositions from Depeche Mode’s 1993 album “Songs Of Faith And Devotion”. The sixth, “Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?”, is a Diesel Christ original written by Tom Berger, produced by John Fryer and remixed by Len Davies. The Depeche Mode covers were produced and mixed by Diesel Christ and Len Davies at Principal Studios.

A 12″ white label EP version appeared on Pop Factory! in Germany, and a Spanish 12″ edition was issued by BOL Records the same year.

The 4-track single “Walking In My Shoes (I Feel Different)” held 4 tracks:

1. Walking In My Shoes (Sex Mix) (5:02)
2. Walking In My Shoes (Andy F. Mix) (5:34)
3. Blue Rain (2:37)
4. Walking In My Shoes (7″ Version) (3:19)

‘Gas Food Lodging’: the original Diesel Christ material

“Gas Food Lodging” followed later that year, in November 1993 as an eight-track CD on SPV Records, licensed from Fun Factory!. The tracklist was this one:

1. “America” (3:06)
2. “Dinosaur” (3:38)
3. “Gimme Your Gasoline” (3:32)
4. “Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?” (3:19)
5. “Nirvana” (3:16)
6. “Nowhereland” (4:02)
7. “Dust” (4:08)
8. “Dangerous” (4:36)

Tom Berger was the songwriter and vocalist across the album, with Klaus Gratzel holding co-writing credits on “Nirvana” and “Nowhereland”, and Chris Block on “Gimme Your Gasoline”. John Fryer produced four tracks on this album: “America”, “Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?”, “Dust”, and “Dangerous”. The remaining tracks were produced by Diesel Christ themselves with Len Davies. The EP was again recorded and mixed at Principal Studios in Ottmarsbocholt, Germany, and its front cover used James Rosenquist’s 1961 painting “I Love You With My Ford”, licensed from Moderna Museet in Stockholm.

The EP tied the project’s threads together. “Nowhereland” carried the 1990 Diesel single into the Diesel Christ catalogue, and “Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?” repeated the original track first placed on the tribute album.

In 1995, Diesel Christ also contributed a cover of the Simple Minds track “20th Century Promised Land” to “To Cut A Long Story Short (A Tribute To The Pioneers Of Electronic Pop)”, a compilation on the Swedish label Energy Rekords. And that apparently laid the foundation of the 1997 Swedisch turn of the project.

‘Diesel Mode 97’: new lineup, new Depeche Mode album

Diesel Christ returned with yet another tribute in 1997 with “Diesel Mode 97”, a nine-track CD album on Fun Factory!, with this time a Swedish edition on Energy Rekords. The tracklist:

1. “Sister Of Night” (4:37)
2. “Freestate” (4:42)
3. “Hallelujah” (3:01)
4. “Useless” (4:33)
5. “Useless Link” (2:33)
6. “It’s No Good” (9:21)
7. “Barrel Of A Gun” (4:29)
8. “The Love Thieves” (2:00)
9. “Home” (4:31)

The personnel for this new Diesel Christ album had in the meantime changed almost entirely. Alex Sacher stayed on board and produced the album, Andreas Küchenmeister handled programming, and Robert Enforsen, vocalist of the Swedish synthpop band Elegant Machinery, sang lead. MCP mixed the album, Chazz Harper mastered it at Battery Studios in New York, and Swen Roters painted the cover. Note that an unofficial Russian cassette edition titled “Diesel Mode ’98” appeared on Always Records in 1998.

From Diesel Christ to Rotoskop

Klaus Gratzel, co-founder of Diesel and co-writer on two “Gas Food Lodging” tracks, then started Rotoskop.

Gratzel sent tracks to other artists, who added their voices and helped complete the songs. This process resulted in the 2003 album “Revolution: Lost”. The following years were marked by setbacks, doubts and poor decisions, but Rotoskop still delivered remixes for Apoptygma Berzerk, Sono, De/Vision, Torul and Sea of Sin, among others. In 2021 Rotoskop returned as a recording artist, releasing three EPs with six songs each. The newer material focused on the artist’s own music, voice and personal approach.

Rotoskop debuted on Infacted Recordings with the album “Undo/Redo” on March 8, 2024, followed by “Passive/Aggressive“, also on Infacted.

With “Dyer Expedition OST”, Tibor Knopf presents a Soundtrack created for the video game of the same name, itself inspired by H. P. Lovecraft.

Ten tracks have been assembled and meticulously crafted using an impressive arsenal of sounds, effects, and field recordings. Intense low-frequency tones permeate the entire work, creating a dense and extremely dark atmosphere. A powerful sense of imagery quickly emerges, which, in my opinion, remains the ultimate criterion when listening to Dark-Ambient and related Cinematic music. Overwhelming sonic eruptions genuinely blow you out of your seat and drag you into an endless black abyss. This production is filled with subtle auditory details, making headphones almost essential for a second listen in order to experience its full impact.

Sjellos has delivered a particularly polished production that I can only highly recommend. (Rating:8).

Listen to “Offshore Traversal”:

https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/track/offshore-traversal

Since releasing his first album in 2010, Iranian artist Mehdi Saleh has built an impressive discography. Along the way, he has released numerous albums, including several collaborations with other renowned projects within the genre.

“Subsynthetic Pulseforms” features ten new compositions that take the listener on a fresh journey through sci-fi-inspired and cosmic soundscapes. The universe of Alphaxone remains firmly rooted in dark, drifting waves of sound that perfectly embody the Cinematic genre. Over the years, Mehdi Saleh has continually refined his craft, enriching his music with meticulously crafted details, subtle textures, and carefully placed effects. Field recordings further complete the sonic canvas, creating the impression of an approaching apocalypse—or perhaps a world already living in its aftermath. The artist invites the listener to surrender to their imagination, guiding them through a subtle yet immersive sound world where ominous signals, mysterious noises, and haunting atmospheres evoke a profound sense of wonder and unease. Alphaxone remains an artist with a strong visual appeal whose creativity consistently translates into quality.

“Subsynthetic Pulseforms” stands as another powerful and captivating opus from one of the genre’s most talented artists. (Rating:8½).

Listen to “Hypostasis”:

https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/track/hypostasis-2

Chicago-based dark synth and industrial project TATV GRAL has released “Treachery,” a self-released single produced by William Faith at 13 Studio Chicago. The track comes with an official video you can see below. A four-track remix EP follows in July 2026.

The “Treachery” EP includes the original version and three remixes. DSTR is Daniel Myer of Haujobb, Tweaker is Chris Vrenna of Nine Inch Nails, and [melter] is part of the Chicago underground scene.

The original track is available now, with the complete EP scheduled for 6 July 2026.

Hellenistic astrology, archetypes and queer visual language

“Treachery” draws on Hellenistic astrology, archetypal psychology and queer leather imagery. TATV GRAL’s Allen Addington connects the track to Saturn and Mars, two planets associated in the source material with betrayal.

“It was a discovery in the ancient texts that unlocked the whole song – both Saturn and Mars independently carry the signification of ‘Treachery’, translated directly from the Ancient Greek. Two malefic forces, each already marked by betrayal, meeting in the same charged space.

And he adds: “Following Richard Tarnas and James Hillman, I wanted to explore that archetypal collision phenomenologically – the Old Man and the Young Man, bondage and erotic force – seen through a gay male gaze and the cinematic shadow world of William Friedkin’s Cruising.”

Musically, “Treachery” has a mix of industrial, EBM and dark electronics.

About TATV GRAL

TATV GRAL is the Chicago, Illinois solo project of multimedia artist Allen Addington. TATV GRAL has been active since the mid-nineties offering a mix of dark synth and industrial, thematically inspired by archetypal psychology, the gay male gaze and ritual containment.

The project debuted in May 2019 with “The Chase”. TATV GRAL then released “Ouroboros (demo)” and “Chiron” in June 2019, followed by “Stay” and “EGO disease” in July 2019. “Soul Divine” followed in March 2020, and “Noncommittal Grey” appeared in March 2023.

Three years later we see the “Treachery EP”, listed for July 2026.

Note that we previously mentioned TATV GRAL in an article about the final EP “It All Falls Apart” by The Funeral March and Joe Whiteaker (R.I.P.). That March 2025 EP has TATV GRAL among the acts appearing at the Rockford release event for The Funeral March and Joe Whiteaker’s final EP “It All Falls Apart.”

French black metal band Merrimack released a digital cover of Depeche Mode’s “Wrong” through Season of Mist. Merrimack’s “Wrong” is a single-track release running 2:59, available across digital platforms, and reworks a song written by Martin L. Gore that Depeche Mode issued as the lead single from their 2009 album “Sounds of the Universe”.

The recording dates back more than a decade. The instrumental was tracked during the sessions for Merrimack’s 2012 album “The Acausal Mass” at Necromorbus Studio in Stockholm and then shelved, with vocals added later to complete the cover for this 2026 release.

The single was proposed by guitarist Perversifier, the band’s founder. The music was produced, recorded and mixed by Tore Stjerna at Necromorbus Studio, while the vocals were recorded, mixed and mastered by Xavier Berthiaume at Tehom Productions. The line-up on the recording is Vestal (vocals), Perversifier (guitars), A.K. (guitars), Daethorn (bass) and Blastum (drums).

Perversifier says that the recording “highlights just how dark the original song already is”, and described the band’s contribution as adding “the level of violence that Black Metal can bring, while staying completely faithful to every note of the original composition.”

A few days ago we already have reported on other recent Depeche Mode covers from the electronic scene, including In Strict Confidence’s “Blasphemous Rumours” and PLATRONiC’s “But Not Tonight”.

About Merrimack

Merrimack is a black metal band formed in France in 1994. The group released its debut album “Ashes of Purification” in 2002, followed by “Of Entropy and Life Denial” (2006), “Grey Rigorism” (2009), “The Acausal Mass” (2012) and “Omegaphilia” (2017). Its most recent studio album, “Of Grace and Gravity”, was issued in 2024. The band’s catalogue is released through Season of Mist.

The “Wrong” single is a standalone cover, completing a recording begun during the “The Acausal Mass” sessions in 2012 and released through Season of Mist on 8 June 2026.

Sheffield electronic group Cabaret Voltaire will mark their final UK performance with an exclusive limited-edition bottle of Henderson’s Relish. Founders Stephen “Mal” Mallinder and Chris Watson play the Sheffield Octagon on 25 October 2026, the closing date of the band’s final tour, and the Cabaret Voltaire “Henderson’s Relish” bottle will be available to Sheffield ticket holders only, with collection at the venue.

A Henderson’s Relish bottle for Cabaret Voltaire’s final Sheffield show

Henderson’s Relish is a Sheffield-made condiment produced in the city since 1885, and the commemorative Cabaret Voltaire “Henderson’s Relish” bottle ties the band’s farewell to their home city. The bottles are strictly limited to Sheffield ticket holders, who receive a collection link from the ticketing agent. The Sheffield Octagon date on 25 October 2026 is the final stop of the band’s last tour and falls just over 50 years after their first live performance, at the Sheffield University Students Union Refectory on 13 May 1975, an anniversary the band marked with an exclusive Sheffield show in 2025. Tickets for the Sheffield Octagon show remain on sale.

‘But What Time Is It Really?’: the Cabaret Voltaire live album

The final tour follows the live album “But What Time Is It Really?“, recorded during Cabaret Voltaire’s sold-out 2025 UK tour and issued in 2026 on Memetune on CD and vinyl. Mallinder and Watson were joined on the 2025 dates by Eric Random and Oliver Harrap, and the recording was engineered and mixed by Benge, recorded by Joe Peat and mastered by James Trevasus.

The album presents new arrangements of “Sensoria”, “Crackdown”, “Do Right” and “Spies in the Wires” alongside “Tinsley Viaduct”, a piece of musique concrète by Chris Watson. The band also shared a live version of “Yashar”, a track first issued on the 1982 album “2×45”. On the recording, Mallinder said it was “an opportunity to capture the shows as a unique moment in time but also give people the opportunity to have a memento,” adding that it presented sounds and music “with respect to Richard’s memory, that also transcended time.”

Cabaret Voltaire final UK and Ireland tour dates 2026

The 2026 itinerary opens with European dates in June and a North American leg in September before the UK and Ireland run in October, which closes in Sheffield. Gazelle Twin (Elizabeth Bernholz) is the support act across most UK dates, with Fader, the duo of Neil Arthur of Blancmange and Benge, opening in Cardiff and Bath. Te October UK and Ireland dates are:

• 7 October – Dublin, The Academy
• 8 October – Belfast, Limelight
• 10 October – Birmingham, Town Hall
• 11 October – Liverpool, Arts Club
• 13 October – Nottingham, The Palais
• 14 October – Cardiff, The Globe
• 15 October – Bath, Forum
• 17 October – Newcastle, Boiler Shop
• 18 October – Glasgow, Barrowland
• 19 October – Manchester, Albert Hall
• 21 October – Brighton, Chalk
• 22 October – London, Roundhouse
• 25 October – Sheffield, Octagon

About Cabaret Voltaire

Cabaret Voltaire formed in Sheffield in 1973 around Stephen Mallinder, Richard H. Kirk and Chris Watson, working with tape, electronics and found sound at a time before the wider arrival of industrial and synth-based music. The group gave its first public performance at the Sheffield University Students Union Refectory on 13 May 1975 and went on to release early records through Rough Trade and Factory, later running their own Doublevision video label. Watson left the group in 1981; the 1982 album “2×45” was the last to feature him.

Across the 1980s the band worked with producers including Adrian Sherwood and Marshall Jefferson, moving from their early experimental work toward electro, funk and house-influenced material. Mallinder remained until the group wound down in 1994 and moved to Australia the following year. Kirk continued as the sole member, returning for a 2014 performance at Berlin’s Atonal festival and releasing “Shadow of Fear” (2020) along with “BN9Drone” and “Dekadrone” in 2020 and 2021. Kirk died on 21 September 2021, aged 65.

In 2025 Mallinder and Watson reunited to mark 50 years since the band’s first concert, a run that produced the 2026 live album “But What Time Is It Really?” and the final tour. Mallinder and Watson have stated that there will be no new recordings under the Cabaret Voltaire name. The final UK date at the Sheffield Octagon on 25 October 2026, accompanied by the limited-edition Henderson’s Relish bottle, closes the band’s live history in the city where it began.

German project Arsine Tibé will release “The Lounge Noire Sessions (Episode II)” on June 19, 2026. The band is the solo project of Manfred Thomaser, known from the German synthpop duo !Distain, and the new release continues a 2026 series that opened with “The Lounge Noire Sessions (Episode I)”.

‘The Lounge Noire Sessions (Episode II)’: tracklist and series

The release runs to three tracks: “Hope II”, “The Second Coming of Time” and “The Pretentiousness of Pop”. It follows “The Lounge Noire Sessions (Episode I)”, which appeared earlier in 2026 as a three-song single. You can pre-order the release on the artist’s Bandcamp page.

About Arsine Tibé

Arsine Tibé is the Lounge Noire and electronic pop solo project of Manfred Thomaser, based in Munich, Germany. Thomaser describes the project’s sound as drawing on lounge, soundtrack, ambient, new wave, electro and pop elements. He is best known as one half of !Distain, the German synthpop duo, and has also worked on the projects Demokratie and The Independent Seasons.

Side-Line first covered the project in 2016, when Thomaser launched a mini-album under the Arsine Tibé name. His main band was profiled in the 2019 Click Interview with !Distain. The Arsine Tibé discography has since grown through releases such as “We Came To Fail”, “Good Evening, The Mountain Said” and “The Copy”, issued through the area db imprint. “The Lounge Noire Sessions (Episode II)”, out June 19, 2026, is the second instalment in the project’s Lounge Noire Sessions series.

Newcastle upon Tyne darkwave and post-punk band Vampire Valentine will release the single “In The Dark” on June 19, 2026 through Morella Records. The Vampire Valentine “In The Dark” single is the first single from the band’s forthcoming self-titled album, scheduled by the label for August 2026, and follows the band’s January 2026 album “Dry Remains” and the April 2026 EP “Pale Dawn.”

The single was recorded by Michael Longstaff (vocals), Kieron Wright (bass) and Blake Carpenter (guitar), with Ricky Conover as producer. The release includes a free instrumental version as a bonus track.

“In The Dark” can be pre-saved on all streaming services.

Morella Records is an independent label founded in 2026 by Blake Carpenter, who runs the goth-rock project GIO, and specialises in goth rock, deathrock, darkwave and post-punk. Vampire Valentine was the label’s first signing, announced in January 2026, in a deal that covered the “Pale Dawn” EP and a further full-length.

About Vampire Valentine

Vampire Valentine is a darkwave and post-punk band from Newcastle upon Tyne, formed in October 2025 by singer and producer Michael Longstaff and bassist Kieron Wright. The pair added the United States–based producer Ricky Conover, who records as Forerunnerx, on synth work. Musically the band cites The Sisters of Mercy and Twin Tribes among its reference points.

Vampire Valentine debuted with the single “Porcelain,” paired with the B-side “Olivia,” on November 14, 2025, followed by the single “Thorns” on December 1, 2025. The band released its debut album “Dry Remains” on January 14, 2026, with tracks including “Stitching Undone,” “Decay,” “Poison” and “Fresh.” The group then signed to Morella Records in January 2026 and issued the six-track EP “Pale Dawn” on April 17, 2026.

“In The Dark,” released on June 19, 2026, is the first single drawn from the self-titled album Morella Records has scheduled for August 2026.

German darkwave and synthpop act Blutengel have released the single “Schwarzer Engel” through Out Of Line Music. An official music video accompanies it. A four-version CD single is set for July 17, 2026.

The CD edition carries four versions: “Schwarzer Engel”, “Schwarzer Engel (Ghostbells Remix)”, “Schwarzer Engel (Erdling Piano Cover)” and “Schwarzer Engel (Destroy Me Again Remix)”.

The reworkings come from three acts. The US darkwave and EBM duo ghostbells contributed a remix. Erdling recorded a piano cover. Dark pop act Destroy Me Again supplied the closing remix.

The single is available digitally on Spotify, Bandcamp, Tidal and YouTube. The Blutengel – Schwarzer Engel (Official Music Video) is available below.

About Blutengel

Blutengel is a German electronic project from Berlin. Chris Pohl founded it in 1998 after ending his earlier project Seelenkrank, which had released two albums, over contractual problems. Pohl handles vocals, lyrics and programming, and has also worked in Terminal Choice, Tumor and Miss Construction, plus runs the Fear Section label.

The early lineup included vocalists Nina Bendigkeit, from 1998 to 2000, and Kati Roloff, from 1998 to 2002. Ulrike Goldmann joined in 2005 on vocals and lyrics and forms the current core of the project with Pohl.

The first release was “Child of Glass” in 1999 followed by “Seelenschmerz” in 2001, “Angel Dust” in 2002 and “Demon Kiss” in 2004. Later albums include “Labyrinth” in 2007, “Schwarzes Eis” in 2009, “Tränenherz” in 2011, “Monument” in 2013 and “Un:Gott” in 2019. The band marked its 25th year with “Un:Sterblich – Our Souls Will Never Die” in 2023 and released “Dämonen: Sturm” in February 2025.

Recent singles include “Dark History” in 2023, “Angst” in 2024 and “The Devil” in October 2025. With “Schwarzer Engel”, Blutengel adds a new single and a July CD edition to a catalogue that now spans more than 25 years. Make sure to check out our Blutengel interview with Chris Pohl.

Australian musician David Thrussell has issued “The Reign Of Dead Matter“, a ritual and ambient LP, on the German label Ant-Zen. The record is available for pre-order on the label’s Bandcamp page as a limited edition, and is the latest in Thrussell’s run of releases for Ant-Zen, the home of his Black Lung project since 1999.

‘The Reign Of Dead Matter’: recording and format

The album was recorded live in private concert at the Melbourne Lodge of the Theosophical Society at midnight on December 21, 2025.

The LP is issued as a strictly limited edition pressed in multiple splatter versions, with each copy described as unique.

About David Thrussell

David Thrussell is an Australian musician active since 1988, creating a mix of dark ambient, industrial, electro-industrial, EBM and IDM music. He is a founding member of Snog and Soma and records solo conspiracy-themed material as Black Lung. Since 1999, nearly all Black Lung releases have appeared on Ant-Zen, including “The Grand Chessboard” (2004), “The Coming Dark Age” (2005) and “Full Spectrum Dominance” (2009).

Side-Line has covered Thrussell’s work across several projects. In 2023 we reported on the 30th anniversary remastered edition of “Lies Inc.”, the debut Snog album, and in 2024 published an interview with Black Lung. His recent Ant-Zen output includes the 2025 vinyl release “Eros Maximus” and a 2025 collaboration with Flint Glass on Lovecraft-inspired material. “The Reign Of Dead Matter” is out under his own name.

Stakkato is a solo project by Thoralf Dietrich, best known for his work with Jäger 90, a project from which we have not heard much in years. He has also been involved in several other projects over time. Interestingly, I came across a CDR released in 2008 that featured the exact same tracklist and album title as this release.

The album presents nine tracks rooted firmly in the tradition of old-school EBM, a characteristic it shares with Jäger 90. The strength of this work does not lie in sheer aggression or brute force, but rather in a more controlled approach to EBM, driven by repetitive and, above all, sonically distinctive sequences. These sequences create a unique musical DNA that is instantly recognizable throughout the album. At the same time, however, their constant presence can eventually become somewhat predictable and, perhaps for some listeners, slightly repetitive. Nevertheless, this remains an intriguing production. One of its most appealing aspects is the strong influence of early DAF, which seems to serve as a guiding thread throughout the album. Here and there, a slightly heavier track emerges, and it is precisely these moments that appeal to me the most.

Stakkato is an interesting project, and one that I hope we will hear more from in the future. (Rating:7½).

Listen to “Lustlose Kunst”:

Die Krupps, the Düsseldorf EBM and industrial metal band, have announced that Marcel Zürcher is back in the band after a three-year absence. The news was shared in a Facebook post in which the band wrote: “Old friendships never die!!! We are pleased to announce that after a 3 year excursion Marcel Zuercher is back in DIE KRUPPS!!!”

The band will play the Brutal Assault festival (August 5 to 8) at Jaroměř-Josefov Fortress in the Czech Republic. Next is M’era Luna which takes place on August 8 and 9 in Hildesheim, Germany. The NCN Festival runs from September 4 to 6 at Kulturpark Deutzen in Germany. And they are also scheduled for September 6 on the Amphi stage.

About Die Krupps

Die Krupps formed in Düsseldorf, Germany, in 1980 including Jürgen Engler, Ralf Dörper and Bernward Malaka as founding members.

The band’s early work moved through industrial percussion, EBM and electronic rock. “Stahlwerksynfonie” appeared in 1981, followed by “Volle Kraft voraus!” in 1982 and “Entering the Arena” in 1985. In the 1990s, Die Krupps added a stronger metal component on “I” in 1992, “II – The Final Option” in 1993, “III – Odyssey of the Mind” in 1995 and “Paradise Now” in 1997.

After the 1997 break, the band returned in the mid-2000s releasing “Too Much History” in 2007, “Volle Kraft Null Acht” in 2008 and “Als Wären Wir Für Immer” in 2010. Later releases included “The Machinists of Joy” in 2013, “V – Metal Machine Music” in 2015, “Vision 2020 Vision” in 2019 and “Songs from the Dark Side of Heaven” in 2021.

In August 2025, Die Krupps signed a multi-album deal with Dependent Records. A new studio album is planned for 2026.

Their 2025 EP “Will Nicht – Muss! / On Collision Course” was issued through Dependent previewing the upcoming 2026 album.

Vexagon is a project by Briar Moth. This third album, and the first to be released through Cold Transmission Music, is a remarkable work. It emerged following a series of severe personal trials, including a house fire, the loss of a job, the beginning of a divorce, and ultimately coming out as a transgender and queer person—all within the span of about a year. Briar Moth viewed these experiences as the unveiling of a new future. The album explores the idea that becoming the person you want to be often comes at the cost of the person you once were.

Now, onto the music. The album contains 12 tracks and features numerous collaborations, primarily with guest vocalists, but also with guitarists and a drummer. The music of Vexagon has a soothing, sensual quality, particularly through the vocals, while also carrying a darker undertone. At times, the soothing atmosphere gradually shifts into something more menacing. Overall, it is a subtle and understated album that could be described as dreamlike Pop, with synthesizers and guitars complementing each other perfectly. There are also several beautiful vocal duets to discover, with singers who maintain a perfect balance and add a magical, sensual touch to the songs. The rhythms generally remain slow but are consistently infectious. To me, “I For An I” sounds both summery and like the kind of music you could enjoy while sitting in front of a crackling fireplace on a winter evening.

This album may feel somewhat like an outlier within the Cold Transmission roster, but as far as I am concerned, it is nevertheless a highly successful and thoroughly enjoyable record. (Rating:8).

Listen to “Mending”:

https://vexagon.bandcamp.com/track/mending

Earlier Belgian electro-industrial project Suicide Commando released “Come Down With Me (V2025)“. The track previewed “Collective Suicide Vol. 1+2”, an anniversary release out now, June 5, 2026. The earlier released EP also included “Jesus Freak (Die In Agony)”, “Death Lies Waiting (Death Will Find You Remix)” and the new track “Control & Consent”.

Suicide Commando now marks the 40th anniversary live during 2026. Confirmed dates include a São Paulo show at VIP Station on August 22, 2026.

“Come Down With Me” was originally released on “Implements Of Hell” in 2010.

“Collective Suicide Vol. 2” is out as digital, CD, double vinyl and as part of the limited “Collective Suicide Vol.1-2” wooden fan box set (limited to 200 copies). The box includes the “Collective Suicide Vol. 2” digipak CD, yellow 2LP, red 2LP of “Collective Suicide Vol. 1”, a 36-page photo book and a hand-numbered certificate.

“Collective Suicide Vol. 1” was first issued for the project’s 30th anniversary in 2016 and now receives a vinyl edition for the 40th anniversary. The collection covers recordings from 1987 through 2016, while “Collective Suicide Vol. 2” focuses on later material, rare tracks and reworked versions.

Below is the vinyl tracklist.

“Collective Suicide Vol. 1” tracklist

• Side A: “Suicide”, “Industrial Underground”, “Incinerate”.
• Side B: “T.V. Obsession”, “Come To Me”, “Kevorkian”.
• Side C: “Disposable Paradise”, “Body Count Proceed (2007 Re_Count)”, “Hate Me”.
• Side D: “Until We Die (Single Edit)”, “Body Machine Body (Demo Version)”, “My New Christ”.

“Collective Suicide Vol. 2” tracklist

• Side A: “Infliction Of Pain”, “Severed Head”, “Come Down With Me (2025 Version)”.
• Side B: “Kill All Humanity (Short And Painless)”, “Evacuate”, “Unterwelt (Apocalypse)”.
• Side C: “Control & Consent”, “Fate (Death is coming…again!)”, “Face Of Death (2023 Mix)”.
• Side D: “Death Lies Waiting (Death Will Find You Remix)”, “Jesus Freak (Die In Agony)”, “Better Off Dead”.

About Suicide Commando

Suicide Commando is the electro-industrial project of Belgian musician Johan Van Roy. The project started in Leopoldsburg, Belgium, in 1986.

Van Roy began experimenting with electronic music in 1986 and released his first tape under the Suicide Commando name two years later. He bought a Roland SH-101 in summer 1986 and then added Boss DR-110 and Boss DR-220E drum machines. He also named The Cure, Sisters Of Mercy, Depeche Mode, Fad Gadget, The Neon Judgement, Front 242 and The Klinik as early influences.

Before the 1994 debut album “Critical Stage”, Suicide Commando released a run of cassette material, including “Suicide Commando”, “This Is Hate”, “Industrial Rape I”, “Crap”, “Go to Hell”, “Into the Grave”, “Industrial Rape II”, “Black Flowers” and “Electro Convulsion Therapy”. “Critical Stage” was released on Off Beat and was followed by “Stored Images” in 1995 and “Construct-Destruct” in 1998.

The later releases includes “Mindstrip” in 2000, “Axis of Evil” in 2003, “Bind, Torture, Kill” in 2006, “Implements Of Hell” in 2010, “When Evil Speaks” in 2013, “Forest of the Impaled” in 2017 and “Goddestruktor” in 2022.

Chicago industrial collective The Joy Thieves have released the album “Apocalypse Pending” through Armalyte Industries. The 13-track The Joy Thieves “Apocalypse Pending” album is fronted by Chris Connelly and arrives with a video for “No Anchor” and the focus track “Ambush Vinez“.

“No Anchor” follows the earlier single “The Wrong End of Your Rifle” in April 2026 while “Ambush Vinez” is a focus track on the album.

The Joy Thieves operate as a rotating collective: Joy Thieves Productions, run by Dan Milligan and James Scott, assembles contributions from a roster the band lists at more than 80 members into finished tracks. Chris Connelly provides lead vocals across the release. The project blends alternative rock, industrial, punk and hip-hop elements, and the band describes the record as carrying an anti-fascist theme.

The album is available via Bandcamp as download and on CD.

About The Joy Thieves

The Joy Thieves are a Chicago-based collective built around Joy Thieves Productions, the studio operation of Dan Milligan and James Scott. The project works by gathering musical fragments from a large pool of contributing musicians and editing them into structured songs.

Vocalist Chris Connelly fronts the group’s recent output. Connelly is a Scottish-born singer and writer whose earlier work includes Fini Tribe, Ministry, Revolting Cocks and Pigface. We published an interview with Connelly and Andy McGregor of Fini Tribe in March 2026, and covered Connelly’s appearance on the Moiii remix “Needles on the Tundra” earlier that month.

“Apocalypse Pending” follows the band’s recent run of singles, including “The Wrong End of Your Rifle”, and is released on June 5, 2026.

During the spring, I discovered the mysterious Ukrainian solo project Cold Sector, a side project of the almost equally enigmatic Entangled System. The man behind both projects – whom we will simply refer to by his first name, Dmitry – uses his music as a sonic reflection on our growing dependence on digital systems, the vulnerability of modern infrastructure, and the invisible tensions that characterize today’s technological world. These themes are translated into an impressive debut album simply titled “Cold Sector”, released independently.

Musically, this Cold Sector album presents an exceptionally elaborate and immersive composition in which Dark-Ambient, Electro, Industrial, and even Noise elements merge into a desolate yet captivating atmosphere. Across its eight tracks, the Cold Sector album draws the listener into an imaginary journey through the darkness and uncertainties of modern times. The result is an extraordinarily creative and meticulously crafted work that figuratively blew me away. It marks a truly grandiose beginning for an artist whom I was fortunate enough to catch for a few questions, despite the ongoing war in his homeland and his relentless drive to create. (Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Cold Sector interview

Q: Could we perhaps start with an introduction to Cold Sector? Who is behind this musical project, and what does this music mean within your artistic vision, alongside the project Entangled System?

Dmitry:My name is Dmitry. Due to the current situation in Ukraine, I would like not to reveal my full name, because some topics touched upon in the music, or in this interview, can be interpreted ambiguously. Cold Sector is my second one-man project; the first one is Entangled System and it’s more focused on Dark-Ambient with elements of Industrial and electronic sounds, whereas Cold Sector leans closer to a more rhythmic Electro-Industrial sound with elements of Ambient.

The only thing that unites these projects in my artistic vision is the desire to convey the feeling of a post-apocalyptic world through music: both the period after a catastrophe and the tension and decay leading up to it. And, since the causes of such disasters can be different, this is also reflected in the project concept.

I would describe Entangled System as the project which idea is leaning more towards the atmosphere of uncertainty associated with technological experiments and the consequences of human interference in uncontrollable processes, to the aesthetics related to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident. Cold Sector is more focused on the possible consequences of technological progress and human interaction with the systems they have created: military equipment, industrial mechanisms, resource extraction, computer technologies, and the gradual transformation of the surrounding world into a cold technological environment.

Q: At this very specific moment, the war in your homeland, Ukraine, is still ongoing. For those of us who are far removed from the war zone, everything seems distant and, above all, surreal. But how do you experience this as a human being, and what meaning and value do music and cultural life still hold in such circumstances?

Dmitry:Of course, war is a terrible reality, and it affects not only everyday life but also creativity. However, I cannot say that I would like to directly reflect this in my music. Personally, I would like peace to come as soon as possible, because the costs of war are too high, and, in my opinion, the conflict’s continuation only worsens the situation in the country. We all only live once, and it is necessary to not underestimate it.

Speaking of personal struggles, the war makes me anxious. Living in such conditions, no one can feel completely safe: there are frequent air attacks, and it’s not possible to foresee whether a UAV/rocket will pass by or it will be shot down right over residential areas.

In such conditions, creating and working with sounds, and not just listening to it, helps to better distract from anxious thoughts and continue thinking about the future, even if it remains unclear. I think music, regardless of its genre or circumstances, is capable of affecting many people this way.

Q: To what extent have the war and all the suffering and loss it entails impacted your music? Do you notice a difference in your composition and artistic approach before the war and now, during the ongoing conflict?

Dmitry:Well, from a visual and atmospheric point of view, even long before the war, I liked post-apocalyptic imagery that can be found in music, games, and movies. I have always had a special interest in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, and am glad that I visited it when it was available for such activity. I was also influenced by Der Blaue Reiter. I got glimmered with enthusiasm by this project’s music to start working with a similar aesthetic myself, including the use of Martial-Industrial elements, which in some way also reflected in the sound of Entangled System.

In general, my interest in creating music appeared back in my youth. I listened to Dark-Electro and different genres similar to it and always had the desire to one day try creating my own music. However, various limitations, including technical ones, delayed this process for a long time. It was only around the end of 2021 that I began actively experimenting: at first, studying FL Studio, plugins, and then trying to find my own sound. The beginning of the war in 2022 accelerated this process because there was a feeling of the necessity to realize my creative ambitions while there was still the opportunity. Realizing at that time that I was best at creating music close to dark ambient, I decided to focus on it.

I think that military actions in any case affect the creative process and the way an artist wants to convey the atmosphere through sound. Although, as I have already said, I try to consciously limit the impact of the current conflict on my creativity, yet it is probably impossible to completely shield myself from the influence of what is happening.

Q: Earlier this year, you released the self-titled debut album by Cold Sector. How did the need arise to start another project alongside Entangled System and were there specific influences or references that shaped this music?

Dmitry:Due to my interest in music that varies from Post-Punk, EBM, and Dark-Electro to Industrial, Rhythmic-Noise and IDM, it is quite difficult for me to keep my creativity within just one style. Alongside my work on Entangled System, I was constantly trying to create something with a harsher and more rhythmic sound. Gradually, as I improved my composing skills and began to better understand the specific kind of what interests me, I realized that I would like to make a full-length album that would sound close to Electro-Industrial. At the same time Entangled System remains a predominantly Dark-Ambient project, which already includes elements of different genres. Therefore, I decided to create a side project – Cold Sector, within which I could focus specifically on a more rhythmic and Industrial sound.

The fundamental differences between the projects primarily lie in the musical styles. Entangled System was conceptually influenced, as I have already mentioned, by Der Blaue Reiter, as well as by the Ukrainian composer Alexey Omelchuk and the project Mooze, who participated in creating the soundtrack for the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game series. There was also some influence from projects such as Atrium Carceri, Raison D’être and Dark Sanctuary, which I listened to a lot before. It’s a bit harder for me to describe the influences on Cold Sector, but the ones I would like to mention are Flint Glass, Orphx and The Opposer Divine. In addition, many releases on the Aliens Production, Hands Productions, and Ant-Zen have had a certain impact on my perception of the sound.

Q: I believe I understood that “Cold Sector” deals with the dangers of digital systems in which algorithms are playing an increasingly prominent role, especially when errors occur. In our modern world, this seems more like reality than fiction. What exactly were you trying to express, and what are your concerns or fears regarding this evolution? And what might we expect from the future?

Dmitry:I am truly concerned about the gradual introduction of AI into an increasing number of areas of life and humanity’s growing dependence on such technologies. Undoubtedly, artificial intelligence itself is a useful tool capable of facilitating many processes and actions. But at the same time, it seems to me that such systems are overly intelligent and could potentially approach the level of human thinking. The problem is that if such technologies are once deeply integrated into critically important systems, the consequences of errors could be catastrophic. Humans are prone to making mistakes, and such AI systems to some extent inherit this vulnerability. That is precisely why, in a certain sense, I feel closer to old analog systems and mechanisms, or very simple algorithms – it follows the rules of formal logic and its behavior is predictable. AI is also based on logic, but the different kind of it  – more internal, which over time may become too complex for full understanding and control by humans.

In essence, this idea is what underlies Cold Sector’s debut album. It is a kind of scenario about what could happen if digital technologies, in particular AI, gained a form of self-awareness, somewhat close to human, but was guided by a completely different logic. In my vision, such a system would gradually begin to develop autonomously, resist external control, and penetrate into different, e.g. analog, systems, creating disruptions and instability. It is reflected in the tracks “Intrusion” and “Signal Propagation”. Then the system would likely try to completely break out of human control affecting even strategic sub-ones such as nuclear-armed submarines – this is what the track “Data Leak” is about. After that, humanity would probably try to stop what was happening – this is the idea behind “Search Sector”, “Containment Protocol” and “Contact Gained” – but most likely either unsuccessfully or at the cost of enormous destruction. The bonus track “Into the Storm” is a kind of epilogue to this story – it conveys a sense of landscape emptiness and radioactive dust spreading over the destroyed world. Of course, I hope that such a scenario never becomes reality. But it seems to me that nowadays there are much more reasons for such concerns than there were a few years ago.

Q: How did you transform all these ideas into music and eventually into this Cold Sector album? Could you give us some more insight into the entire composition and production process? Which instruments, software, or tools did you use?

Dmitry:As I have already mentioned, while working on music for Entangled System, I experimented with more rhythmic and Industrial sound. Thus, in 2023 and 2024, the demos of “Search Sector” and “Signal Propagation” were done, although at that time they were still quite raw and in need of refinement. A clearer understanding of the album’s concept came later, in 2025, when “Where Machines Are Born” and “Contact Gained” were recorded. It was these tracks that largely set the structure and the feeling of the beginning and the end of the story. After that, the process turned into putting pieces together: I immediately understood which tracks formed the framework of the album and all that remained was to fill in the gaps and refine the existing material so that it would fit organically into the overall concept.

Usually my creative process begins with an idea or an image that I think through and then try to turn into sound sketches. Often this doesn’t seem to get sorted out easily, but sometimes there is a kind of breakthrough when it becomes clear how exactly the music should sound. In such moments I try to make the most of this state and bring the tracks to the highest possible level of completion so that later, when this state starts to fade, I only have to put the final touches, which do not require deep immersion in the atmosphere.

The final stage of the album’s production was difficult because at that moment constant emergency power outages started to appear in Ukraine. With only about 8-10 hours of electricity per day in total, it was quite difficult for me to find appropriate time for creative activity.

The album was done in FL Studio without using any analog equipment. I used some plugins, mostly Dune 3 and Nexus 3, whose presets I could tweak to achieve the desired sound. For processing effects such as distortion or bitcrusher I mostly used the built-in FL Studio tools. The album also includes samples, e.g. a TTS-generated voice – it is heard at the beginning of the first track. Although, in general, I am not a supporter of using AI tools in music, in this case, given the concept of the album, adding such a “machine” voice seemed appropriate to me and helped enhance the atmosphere. I also used samples of recordings from numbered radio stations, which can be found in internet archives, samples of Morse code and sonar, engine sounds, and underwater currents.

Q: What were you trying to achieve artistically, and which audience are you hoping to reach with this project?

Dmitry: I wanted Cold Sector to be as close to Electro-Industrial as possible, but, at the same time, not limited by this genre’s specific traits, because the concept of the project itself requires different ways of conveying atmosphere. For me, genres in this case act as tools that allow expressing certain states, images, and parts of the story. For example, Ambient elements create a sense of isolation and underwater space, the Industrial and rhythmic ones – the operation of mechanisms and a technogenic atmosphere itself, and the noise ones – digital interference, instability, and the gradual destruction of the environment. Cinematic elements, in turn, help to perceive the album as a coherent narrative with a certain atmosphere and bring visual associations.

I wanted the music to give the listener a sense of being inside this world – cold, mechanized, and gradually getting out of control. I wanted the album to be perceived as a sonic journey or a fragment of some technogenic story, rather than just a set of tracks from a certain genre.

Q: In times of war, is it still possible to make long-term plans regarding your artistic projects? And what may we still expect in the future from Cold Sector and Entangled System?

Dmitry:Of course, I believe that in wartime periods it is not only possible but also necessary to make long-term plans. Creativity helps to get through such tough times, and any war ends sooner or later. Despite all the difficulties that the current situation causes for both everyday life and creativity, I still try to move forward gradually and continue making music.

I don’t have any set-in-stone plans yet, but, regarding Cold Sector, I would like to make a second album that would be a sort of continuation of the debut one. While the first album is more focused on underwater and digital infrastructure, the next one conceptually would be leaning more towards the progression of a post-apocalyptic story on the surface of the earth. However, it is possible that before these plans get turned into reality, a series of singles with no specific concept will appear. I am interested in working with vocals and right now experimenting in this direction. Since I have practically no experience doing my own vocals, I am looking for the right way for it to sound both musically and lyrically.

As for Entangled System, it is harder for me to speak about any plans at all. I can’t foresee if the inspiration for new material will come. But I would definitely like to re-release the first two albums as sort of redux versions with a more refined and improved sound.

Darkwave and industrial project NØIR (aka Athan Maroulis) has released the “Breath and Taxes” 4-track EP through the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based label Distortion Productions. NØIR’s “Breath and Taxes” EP collects the title track with remixes by genCAB and Iszoloscope, and is available across all streaming and digital platforms.

The EP features cellist Tracey Di Lascio-Martinuk, programmer Dominic Smelt and engineer Xris Smack among its collaborators. NØIR is the project of vocalist Athan Maroulis.

The story behind NØIR’s ‘Breath and Taxes’

The title track has a long history. “Breath and Taxes” was the first song Maroulis co-wrote as a member of Spahn Ranch in 1993. The lyric idea even existed before when Maroulis was in Executive Slacks and the band was about to play at Scream in Los Angeles. Maroulis had attended a serial-killer art exhibit at a Hollywood gallery and later wrote the lyrics based on what he saw there. It eventually became a surreally sarcastic song about the contradictions of cults and capitalism.

About NØIR

NØIR is a New York-based project led by Athan Maroulis, a vocalist whose career runs through several dark electronic and industrial acts. Maroulis fronted Executive Slacks in the late 1980s and later joined the Los Angeles trio Spahn Ranch, which released a series of albums through the 1990s. At Side-Line we covered the reissue of the 1995 Spahn Ranch LP “The Coiled One”. He then performed and recorded with Black Tape for a Blue Girl before launching NØIR.

NØIR debuted with the “My Dear” single in 2012, followed by the album “Darkly Near” in 2013. Maroulis described the project in a 2020 Side-Line interview as “an amalgamation of each band I have ever been in”. The project has continued issuing EPs and singles, including the 2023 “Fallen” EP.

Daniel McCullough (Silver Walks) and Athan Maroulis (NØIR) also issued a new collaborative cover of Cyberaktif’s Wax Trax! single “Nothing Stays”, released September 19, 2025 via Distortion Productions. The four-track digital EP paired the core version with remixes by S Y Z Y G Y X, genCAB, and KLACK.

The new “Breath and Taxes” EP brings a song Maroulis first sketched in the early 1990s.

The Cassette Culture Podcast, a documentary podcast about the 1980s and 1990s DIY cassette underground, is running a mini-series titled “Tapes Received: Industrial Music for Industrial People“. The Cassette Culture Podcast “Tapes Received” series follows the contacts listed in “Industrial News”, the newsletter published by Throbbing Gristle’s label Industrial Records between 1978 and 1980, which printed a “Tapes Received” list of artists who had mailed in their own cassettes.

The podcast is produced and presented by Martin Franklin and, since 2025, co-hosted by Jerry Kranitz, author of the book “Cassette Culture: Homemade Music and the Creative Spirit in the Pre-Internet Age”. It is built as narrative documentary rather than straight interview.

The first episode of the series, published on May 28, 2026, brings together artists connected to that early network. Its participants include Val Denham; Philip Sanderson of Snatch Tapes and Storm Bugs; and Richard Rupenus, co-founder of The New Blockaders. Also Matt Johnson of The The will appear on an upcoming episode to discuss his early cassette-network years.

About the Cassette Culture Podcast

The Cassette Culture Podcast documents the international mail network through which underground artists exchanged cassettes and homemade artwork during the 1980s and 1990s. Presented by Martin Franklin and co-hosted by Jerry Kranitz, it approaches the scene as a connected story told by the people who took part.

The full archive is available at the Cassette Culture Podcast site. The current “Tapes Received” mini-series places Throbbing Gristle’s Industrial Records newsletter at the center of that history.

Infinite Fog Productions reissues the Nurse With Wound album “A Sucked Orange” on August 15, 2026. The experimental project led by Steven Stapleton first issued the record through his own United Dairies label in 1989; the new edition appears as a 2LP picture-disc set in a gatefold sleeve, a DigiCD and a limited tape, with an accompanying T-shirt.

“A Sucked Orange” collects short studio fragments, samples, spoken-word pieces and drone passages, several drawn from or related to other Nurse With Wound recordings.

The album is a collection of short pieces, 36 tracks in total (40 for the Bandcamp version), each clocking in anywhere from five seconds (“Raymonde Fluffs It”) to just over four minutes (“I’m A Frayed Knot”). Good to note that the Infinite Fog 40-track edition is not a straight copy of the original 1989 United Dairies CD, as that one only had 29 tracks.

The new tracklist goes from 29 to 40 entries, restores/adds tracks 30–36, and includes four full-side vinyl mixes.

Here are the extra tracks in this release:

30. Wisecrack
31. Praying Mantis
32. Its All Gone Weird/Nasal Hair
33. Automating (Some More)
34. It Just Ain’t So/In Heaven
35. Well What D’ya Know Henry
36. Relax

And these are the four format-specific tracks that are added on Bandcamp:

37. Vinyl mix – Side A
38. Vinyl mix – Side B
39. Vinyl mix – Side C
40. Vinyl mix – Side D

About Nurse With Wound

Nurse With Wound is the main recording name of British musician Steven Stapleton. The act formed in 1978 as a trio of Stapleton, John Fothergill and Heman Pathak, and recorded its first releases in a free-improvisation idiom that listeners associated with industrial music.

By 1981 Stapleton was the sole continuing member,. In 1982 he released “Homotopy to Marie”, the first fully realised Nurse With Wound release. Stapleton also runs the United Dairies label, which issued Nurse With Wound records alongside material by Current 93 and other experimental artists. The project’s catalog spans long-form drone works such as “Soliloquy for Lilith” and shorter, collage-based records, of which “A Sucked Orange” is an example.

Side-Line previously reported on the reissue of the Nurse With Wound album “Thunder Perfect Mind”, and on the project Nodding God formed by David Tibet and Andrew Liles of Nurse With Wound. The Infinite Fog reissue of “A Sucked Orange,” dated August 15, 2026, returns one of the project’s late-1980s United Dairies titles to vinyl.

As Bronski Beat‘s often-overlooked second album “Truthdare Doubledare” receives a deluxe 40th anniversary reissue, former vocalist Jon Jon Foster looks back on friendship, fame, self-doubt, and the remarkable journey that took him from the Essex music scene to the international charts.

When people talk about Bronski Beat, the conversation almost always begins with Jimmy Somerville.

It’s understandable. Songs like “Smalltown Boy” and “Why?” helped define an era and established Bronski Beat as one of the most important voices of 1980s synth-pop and queer culture. Yet Bronski Beat’s story did not end when Somerville left in 1985.

Instead, Steve Bronski and Larry Steinbachek recruited a singer they had known for years: John “Jon Jon” Foster.

The result was “Hit That Perfect Beat”, one of the biggest dancefloor anthems of 1986, and the album “Truthdare Doubledare”, a record that blended Hi-NRG energy, political commentary, introspective songwriting and electronic experimentation.

Forty years later, Cherry Red Records is revisiting that chapter with an expanded anniversary edition packed with remastered audio, BBC recordings, remixes and rare material.

For Jon Jon Foster, the reissue is an opportunity to remember friendships, celebrate the legacy of Steve Bronski and Larry Steinbachek, and revisit a period that changed his life forever.

Speaking with Side-Line, Foster reflects on joining Bronski Beat, the making of “Truthdare Doubledare”, the challenges of following Jimmy Somerville, and the friendships that shaped one of the band’s most fascinating chapters.

Jon Jon Foster (Bronski Beat) interview

Q: When “Hit That Perfect Beat” was released at the end of 1985, it quickly became one of the biggest dancefloor anthems of 1986, reaching No. 3 in the UK charts and entering the Top 10 in several countries around the world. For many fans and journalists, the song proved that Bronski Beat could still have a strong identity and future even after Jimmy Somerville’s departure. Did you personally feel that pressure at the time – stepping into a band that already had such a strong image and legacy?

Jon Jon Foster: The pressure didn’t really come from stepping into Jimmy’s shoes. The real pressure came from London Records. After Bronski Beat’s “Hit That Perfect Beat” became such a success, they wanted us to deliver an album very quickly, and “Truthdare Doubledare” was completed within about three or four months.

Steve and Larry were already my friends long before I joined the band. I’d known Larry since around 1979 and got to know Steve shortly afterwards. We had been spending time together for years, making music, jamming and hanging out. There was already a connection between us.

Because of that, it never felt like I was entering a completely unfamiliar situation. It was more like a jigsaw puzzle finally finding its missing piece. Everything seemed to slot naturally into place.

Our manager Anthony Kawalski was also someone I had known for years, so there was already trust between us. Looking back, I remember that period as a lot of hard work, but also a tremendous amount of fun.

Q: Many contemporary reviews described “Hit That Perfect Beat” as raw, energetic Hi-NRG dance music that shifted Bronski Beat away from melancholy political tension toward something more physical and club-oriented. Looking back today, do you think the band consciously moved queer identity from protest into the dancefloor itself?

Jon Jon Foster: Looking back, most of Bronski Beat’s major hits were already very dancefloor-oriented. At the same time, there was always a political and emotional thread running through the band’s music, and you can hear that in my lyrics as well.

Songs like “C’Mon! C’Mon!” are a good example of that. It was never our intention to say, “Let’s make a dance record now.” “Hit That Perfect Beat” was certainly designed as a Hi-NRG dance track, but the rest of the album came together much more organically.

The truth is that there was no master plan. Steve, Larry and I hadn’t spent months rehearsing together or writing material before entering the studio. Everything developed very spontaneously.

If we had made an entire album in the style of “Hit That Perfect Beat”, I think it would have become rather predictable. Instead, deeper and more personal songs emerged naturally, and those songs felt right for the album.

Q: How did you originally become involved with Bronski Beat? Had you already been singing or performing in other projects before joining the band?

Jon Jon Foster: It all started through my dear friend Gill Wisson, whom I’ve known for most of my life. We both grew up in Essex and eventually moved from Basildon to Southend.

Gill had a bedsit in Southend, and upstairs lived two young men called Larry and Anthony. They used to frequent the only gay pub in town, called The Cliff.

Through Gill, I met Larry, Anthony and a whole circle of artists and musicians connected to the local art college.

Music quickly became part of our friendship. We spent countless hours playing together, experimenting and creating things. Alison Moyet was also around at that time, and whenever she sang, we would all stop what we were doing and simply listen.

One of the most important moments came during the final days of the original Bronski Beat line-up. The band had an appearance on Wogan and needed to attend a camera rehearsal. Jimmy didn’t turn up, so I stepped in and mimed “I Feel Love” alongside Marc Almond.

That moment planted a seed in our manager Anthony Kawalski’s mind.

Many people assume there was some huge audition process when Jimmy left, but I don’t think Steve and Larry would ever have chosen a complete stranger. We already knew each other well, and there was a natural chemistry between us.

I eventually recorded several songs with them, including tracks that now appear on the new anniversary edition. Once London Records were convinced, I officially joined Bronski Beat. We recorded “Hit That Perfect Beat”, the song became a hit, and everything developed from there.

Q: Had you already been involved in music before joining the band?

Jon Jon Foster: Yes, absolutely.

One of my earliest bands was called Yellow Jellies, which I formed with friends while we were still at college. We played a few gigs and had a fantastic time.

Later came another group called Bust, where I played alongside my friend David. Ironically, David would later go on to play bass with The Communards.

At the time I was heavily involved in performance art, filmmaking and street performance. I was constantly creating things with friends.

When the opportunity came to move to London and work with Steve and Larry, I knew I had to take it. It was a chance to become part of something bigger, even if it meant putting some of my own projects on hold.

Q: By the mid-1980s, Basildon had already become one of the symbolic centres of British electronic pop culture through artists like Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Alison Moyet, Erasure or Robert Marlow. Did you feel connected to that scene in any way?

Jon Jon Foster: Very much so.

Of course I knew Depeche Mode from Basildon. I knew Alison Moyet, and later I met Andy Bell as well. Robert Marlow was someone whose gigs I used to attend.

In many ways, we were all connected. I admired all of those artists and watched many of them emerge from the local scene.

I remember seeing Alison Moyet perform in Basildon long before she became famous. People absolutely loved her.

We would also go to clubs like Rocks in Rochford, where all sorts of bands were performing, from electronic acts to punk groups.

It was a very exciting time. Everyone was involved in music, fashion, art and self-expression. We were all trying to be outrageous in our own way.

Looking back, we were rivals in some respects, but there was also a lot of mutual respect and admiration. We all came from the same environment and shared the same excitement about creating something new.

Q: What do you remember most vividly about the recording sessions for Bronski Beat’s “Truthdare Doubledare”? What was the atmosphere like inside the band during that period?

Jon Jon Foster: “Truthdare Doubledare” was a wonderful album to make. We had a fantastic time recording it.

We worked in some of the best studios in London, although we also spent time in some rather ramshackle places doing additional work. Because Steve and Larry were working primarily with electronic instruments and sequencers, they didn’t always need luxurious surroundings. The music could be created almost anywhere.

Our producer, Adam Williams, did a brilliant job. We probably tested his patience on more than one occasion, but always in the best possible way.

What I remember most is the sense of adventure. Suddenly I found myself travelling to New York, staying there for months while Steve and Larry were also completing work on “Hundreds & Thousands”. We had an incredible apartment on the Upper West Side.

For someone who had recently been living on Social Security in Newcastle, it felt like entering another world.

My professional training had actually been as a chef and waiter. Then, almost overnight, I was taken from a very modest life and placed in some of the most exciting cities and studios imaginable.

The strongest memory is still the laughter. We spent so much time creating, experimenting and enjoying ourselves. We were friends making music together, and that made all the difference.

Q: Songs like “Hit That Perfect Beat”, “C’Mon! C’Mon!” and “Punishment For Love” still sound energetic and unique today. Do you have a personal favourite track from this Bronski Beat album?

Jon Jon Foster: In a way, all of them are favourites because every song is attached to a particular memory.

“Hit That Perfect Beat” will always hold a special place for me because it was the first professional song I ever recorded. It was my first proper record, and suddenly it became a hit around the world. Naturally, I’m very proud of that.

Another song I feel very strongly about is “Punishment For Love”. That track deals with loneliness, isolation and the feeling of having nowhere to belong. It reflects the experience of having love inside you but being prevented from expressing who you truly are.

“Dr. John” is also very personal. It’s almost autobiographical. When I listen to it now, I hear someone looking into a mirror and asking difficult questions about life, identity and where they are heading.

And then there is “C’Mon! C’Mon!”, which reflected the political climate of Britain during the Thatcher years. At times it felt as though the country was moving backwards rather than forwards.

Q: At the same time, Jimmy Somerville launched The Communards, which quickly became hugely successful. Did this create any sense of competition or pressure for the “new” Bronski Beat?

Jon Jon Foster: Not really.

Any pressure that existed came from the record company rather than from Jimmy or The Communards. London Records wanted results, wanted records and wanted momentum.

Personally, I never felt involved in any rivalry. My relationship was with Steve and Larry, not with the business side of things.

Jimmy was free to pursue his vision, and we were free to pursue ours. I never felt any need to compete with him. We simply got on with making our own music.

Q: Looking back today, do you feel you were ever truly accepted as the new voice of Bronski Beat?

Jon Jon Foster: That’s an interesting question.

Outwardly, I always appeared confident. I could do interviews, stand in front of cameras and perform on stage without too much difficulty.

The real struggle was internal.

I constantly dealt with feelings of insecurity and what people now call impostor syndrome.

But at the same time, I wasn’t trying to become Jimmy. I wasn’t trying to copy him or replace him. I simply tried to sing the songs as honestly as I could and contribute what I had to offer.

Looking back now, I realise that “Truthdare Doubledare” was almost an experiment for all of us.

I think we did.

Q: The 40th anniversary of Bronski Beat’s “Truthdare Doubledare” is also overshadowed by the loss of both Steve Bronski and Larry Steinbachek. Do you ever think about what a reunion or celebration of that era could have been like?

Jon Jon Foster: Absolutely.

I know Steve would have been delighted to see this album being rediscovered.

What many people don’t realise is that my relationship with Steve and Larry didn’t end when I left Bronski Beat. Steve and I continued performing together in America and Hawaii. We played clubs, toured with other artists and remained close friends.

I also stayed in touch with Larry for many years. Both he and Steve eventually lived in Amsterdam, and I regularly visited them there.

That’s why this anniversary is emotional for me. Of course it’s sad that neither of them is here to witness it. But at the same time, it’s wonderful to see the music being celebrated again.

And I think both Steve and Larry would be proud of that.

Q: Years later, you also recorded your own version of Yazoo’s “Only You”, one of the defining songs of the Basildon electronic scene. What drew you to that song personally?

Jon Jon Foster: When Alison Moyet used to visit Gill’s bedsit and Larry would be recording music there, we would often sit together and listen to her sing. I still have some of those old tapes.

Quite honestly, there were times when tears would come to our eyes. Alison had such a beautiful and powerful voice that it genuinely moved people.

My version of “Only You” was really a small tribute to her.

I’ve always loved that song. It has stayed with me throughout my life, and recording it felt like a way of saying thank you to someone who was not only an extraordinary artist but also a friend.

We were all connected through Essex, through music and through friendship.

I still go to see Alison perform whenever I can. It’s wonderful to watch her on stage after all these years and hear those songs again.

Forty years after its original release, Bronski Beat’s “Truthdare Doubledare” remains one of the most underrated albums in the Bronski Beat catalogue.

Often overshadowed by both “The Age Of Consent” and the success of The Communards, it nevertheless captures a fascinating moment in the band’s evolution: a period of reinvention, experimentation and resilience.

Listening to Jon Jon Foster today, it becomes clear that the album’s story is about far more than replacing a singer. It is a story of friendship, creative chemistry and the courage to move forward when many expected the story to be over.

The 40th Anniversary Edition of “Truthdare Doubledare” is available for pre-order now and will be released on July 3, 2025.

© JJanurik

Sleep Kills is a project based in Los Angeles (USA). I ​​discovered that they released two singles earlier this year that can be found on this EP, along with three additional tracks.

The five songs are clearly driven by a solid EBM foundation and built upon other influences ranging from IDM, Dark-Techno, and Industrial. The menacing atmosphere and overwhelming sound production are infectious, but on top of that, you discover a fantastic female vocalist who brings a lot of variation to her voice. One moment she sounds half-whispered, mysterious, and sexy, but later she becomes powerful and commanding. Every track sounds like a potential single, though I do have a preference for “No Limits” and “Stahlfleisch”.

This debut EP is an absolute masterpiece. It has been a long time since a new band blew me away to this extent. A modern, electric EBM mix backed by strong production. Sleep Kills is a name to remember! (Rating:8½).

Listen to “No Limits”:

https://sleepkillsaudio.bandcamp.com/track/no-limits

Eastside Festival will return to Karlsbad in Halle/Saale on 3 and 4 July 2026. Presented by Pluswelt Promotion, the Pop and Wave open air event brings together synthpop, EBM, dark wave, electro and alternative electronic music in a lakeside setting.

Now entering its fourth edition, Eastside Festival has grown from a pandemic-era idea into an established meeting point for the electronic and wave-oriented scene. The festival takes place at Karlsbad Halle, located by the Angersdorfer Teiche, with camping options, a beach setting and a summer atmosphere closer to a scene gathering than to a standard large-scale commercial festival.

Nitzer Ebb, Devision Redux and Black Nail Cabaret on Friday

Friday’s programme connects several generations of electronic underground music. British EBM pioneers Nitzer Ebb remain one of the defining names of body music, known for their stripped-down force, commanding vocals and percussive physicality. Their appearance gives the first Eastside Festival day a clear historical anchor.

Another major point of interest is Devision Redux, the new electronic format around Steffen Keth and Daniel Myer. The project reworks material from the De/Vision catalogue into a club-oriented language, giving familiar songs a leaner, more contemporary and more physical shape.

Black Nail Cabaret bring their elegant, dark electronic pop to the line-up. The Hungarian duo have built a distinctive identity around sharp synth work, controlled sensuality and a sense of theatrical restraint. Canadian duo Traitrs add a colder post-punk and darkwave presence, with a sound shaped by guitars, tension and emotional urgency.

In Strict Confidence appear with an electro set, linking the Eastside Festival to the long-running German dark electronic tradition. Future Lied To Us bring polished synthpop with a melodic, emotionally direct approach, while Spanish act Huir open the day with a newer voice from the electronic underground. The evening continues after the concerts with a DJ set by Richard Silverthorn of Mesh in a separate area.

Covenant, Solitary Experiments and Bigod 20 on Saturday

Saturday expands the spectrum from synthpop and dark electronic music to EBM history and club culture. Covenant remain one of the most important Swedish electronic acts, combining philosophical lyrics, elegant synth architecture and a strong live presence. Their place in the programme gives the second day a major synthpop focus.

Solitary Experiments bring a different kind of emotional force: melodic, powerful, direct and deeply connected to the German futurepop and electro scene. Bigod 20 provide the midnight special, adding a classic EBM and electronic heritage element to the festival’s second night.

Priest contribute a darker, more stylised synth-based sound, while UK act Auger bring a more alternative, song-oriented edge to the programme. Beborn Beton add sophisticated German electronic pop with a long history in the synth scene, while Swiss act Blackbook represent a newer generation of sleek, melodic synthpop.

M/A/T open the second day with harder electronic energy, and Lennart Salomon performs a special lakeside acoustic set, creating a quieter contrast before the programme returns to full electronic intensity. The night continues with a DJ set by Talla 2XLC and an after-show party in a separate area.

A lakeside festival for the pop, wave and EBM audience

The full 2026 line-up includes Nitzer Ebb, Covenant, Devision Redux, Bigod 20, Solitary Experiments, In Strict Confidence, Priest, Traitrs, Auger, Black Nail Cabaret, Lennart Salomon, Beborn Beton, Blackbook, Future Lied To Us, Huir and M/A/T. Christian Schottstädt of Forced To Mode will host the festival as moderator.

The location gives Eastside Festival its particular identity. Karlsbad offers an open air setting by the lake, with a sandy beach, camping possibilities and a relaxed summer atmosphere. For an audience often associated with clubs, dark venues and late-night dancefloors, this combination of electronic music and open air surroundings gives the festival a distinct rhythm.

Eastside Festival 2026 does not present itself as a purely nostalgic event. The programme places established names next to newer and mid-generation acts, connecting different branches of the electronic underground: EBM history, synthpop melancholy, contemporary darkwave, alternative pop structures and club-oriented electronics.

Tickets are available through the official Eastside Festival website, Pluswelt Promotion ticketing and Eventim.

Eastside Festival 2026 agenda

Friday, 3 July 2026

• 17:00 Huir
• 17:50 Future Lied To Us
• 18:50 Black Nail Cabaret
• 20:00 Traitrs
• 21:10 In Strict Confidence Electro Set
• 22:20 Devision Redux
• 23:45 Nitzer Ebb
• 01:00 DJ Richard Silverthorn/Mesh, separate area

Saturday, 4 July 2026

• 16:00 M/A/T
• 16:45 Blackbook
• 17:45 Beborn Beton
• 18:45 Auger
• 19:50 Priest
• 20:35 Lennart Salomon, lakeside acoustic set
• 21:25 Solitary Experiments
• 22:30 Covenant
• 00:05 Bigod 20, midnight special
• 00:05 DJ Talla 2XLC
• 01:05 After-show party, separate area

Hollywood Vampires will return to the UK and Europe in 2026, bringing Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp, Joe Perry and Tommy Henriksen back to the stage for a new run of shows. The tour marks the band’s return to European audiences after almost three years away and includes dates in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Croatia, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.

The Polish stop – and also the last stop – will take place at Atlas Arena in Łódź on 10 September 2026. It will be the band’s only concert in Poland on this tour.

Hollywood Vampires take their name from the legendary 1970s musicians’ club founded by Alice Cooper, whose circle was connected with the rock’n’roll mythology of the Sunset Strip. The current band transforms that legacy into a live project built around classic rock, theatrical stage presence, guitar-driven energy and tributes to rock history.

Their concerts combine original Hollywood Vampires material with interpretations of rock classics. Rather than functioning as a static nostalgia project, the band bring together several layers of rock culture: Cooper’s shock rock theatricality, Perry’s Aerosmith guitar lineage, Depp’s rock sensibility and Henriksen’s experience as a powerful live musician and Cooper collaborator.

The UK dates will feature special guests The Jesus And Mary Chain and The Damned on selected shows, while further guests for the European dates are to be announced.

Hollywood Vampires UK + Europe Tour 2026 dates:

• 12 August 2026 – London, UK – The O2
• 14 August 2026 – Cardiff, UK – Cardiff Castle
• 15 August 2026 – Scarborough, UK – Scarborough Open Air Theatre
• 17 August 2026 – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
• 18 August 2026 – Manchester, UK – AO Arena
• 19 August 2026 – Birmingham, UK – Utilita Arena Birmingham
• 21 August 2026 – Colchester, UK – Castle Park
• 22 August 2026 – Halifax, UK – The Piece Hall
• 25 August 2026 – Nuremberg, Germany – PSD Bank Nürnberg Arena
• 26 August 2026 – Paris, France – Adidas Arena
• 28 August 2026 – Cologne, Germany – Lanxess Arena
• 30 August 2026 – Hamburg, Germany – Barclays Arena
• 1 September 2026 – Novegro-Tregarezzo, Italy – Parco della Musica di Milano
• 2 September 2026 – Este, Italy – Castello Carrarese
• 3 September 2026 – Pula, Croatia
• 5 September 2026 – St. Pölten, Austria
• 6 September 2026 – Prague, Czech Republic
• 8 September 2026 – Budapest, Hungary
• 10 September 2026 – Łódź, Poland – Atlas Arena

Tickets and VIP packages are available through the official Hollywood Vampires website and authorised ticketing platforms.

Here’s what you can expect live.

Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart in Berlin will present “Ryuichi Sakamoto. seeing sound, hearing time” from 11 September 2026 to 23 May 2027, marking the first major European retrospective dedicated to the late Japanese composer, producer and artist.

Opening during Berlin Art Week, the exhibition will occupy around 1,500 square metres in the Rieckhallen and will bring together seven works in five large-scale installations, placing Sakamoto’s practice at the point where composition, film, performance, technology and visual art begin to alter each other’s grammar.

Here’s a glimpse of the Ryuichi Sakamoto retrospective that took place at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo in 2024.

About Ryuichi Sakamoto

Born in Tokyo in 1952, Ryuichi Sakamoto entered the wider musical map with his 1978 solo debut “Thousand Knives” and, that same year, co-founded Yellow Magic Orchestra with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, a group whose influence on electronic pop, synth-based production, techno, hip-hop and game music still reads like a hidden operating system behind large parts of contemporary sound culture. His solo work moved restlessly between avant-pop, chamber music, ambient composition, electronic experimentation and piano-led minimalism, while albums such as “B-2 Unit,” “Neo Geo,” “Beauty,” “async” and the final “12” reveal an artist who treated sound as matter, climate and memory rather than as genre.

His film work brought that language to international cinema. Sakamoto scored Nagisa Oshima’s “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence,” in which he starred alongside David Bowie, and later composed for Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Last Emperor,” “The Sheltering Sky” and “Little Buddha,” as well as Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “The Revenant.” His awards included an Academy Award, a Grammy, a BAFTA and two Golden Globes, yet the significance of his film music lies beyond prestige: Sakamoto could compress political history, erotic tension, exile, landscape and private grief into themes whose elegance never softened their emotional pressure.

“Ryuichi Sakamoto, seeing sound, hearing time” focuses on Sakamoto’s later spatial and audiovisual practice, especially the three-dimensional sound environments he developed from the 2000s onwards with collaborators including Shiro Takatani, Carsten Nicolai and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Among the central works is “Is Your Time” from 2017, created with Shiro Takatani, in which a piano damaged by the 2011 tsunami becomes an acoustic object activated through real-time seismological data from earthquakes around the world. Further installations grow out of “async,” Sakamoto’s 2017 album shaped by fragility, decay, field recordings and the presence of mortality, while two films by Carsten Nicolai use music from “12,” the intimate sonic diary recorded by Sakamoto between 2021 and 2022.

The retrospective arrives in Berlin as part of the 30th anniversary programme of Hamburger Bahnhof, a museum whose history has long involved the friction between contemporary art, sound, performance and expanded media. Curated by Ingrid Buschmann of Hamburger Bahnhof together with Tokyo-based curator Sachiko Namba, the exhibition will be presented in cooperation with KAB Inc. / KAB America Inc. and Dumb Type Office Ltd.

For audiences connected to electronic, experimental and post-industrial music, Sakamoto’s work remains essential because it never reduced technology to surface or spectacle. His machines breathed, his pianos carried weather, his silences had architecture. This Berlin exhibition promises a rare encounter with an artist who understood sound as a way of measuring time, damage, tenderness and the invisible forces moving through bodies and rooms.

Ryuichi Sakamoto passed away at the age of 71 in March 2023 after succumbing to cancer after a years-long battle.

’12’, the last Ryuichi Sakamoto album (January 2023)

In January 2023 Side-Line presented Sakamoto’s last album, “12”, out via Milan Records. The 12 compositions were recorded by Ryuichi Sakamoto in Tokyo during his 2-year long fight with cancer throughout 2021-2022. The album, his 15th, was the first of new solo material since 2017. The album’s twelve tracks are titled and sequenced by the dates each were written, culminating in a diary-like collection of music that provides an intimate snapshot into this period of Sakamoto’s life.

Prior to the release of his album, Sakamoto debuted a special solo piano concert that was streamed online to over 60,000 viewers worldwide. His first live performance in two years, the concert was recorded at Tokyo’s renowned 509 Studio over a week and featured an hour of the composer playing new arrangements from his extensive repertoire and new album.

Watch “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” from the live-streamed “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Playing the Piano 2022” on Sunday, December 11, 2022.

Australian industrial-punk project Schkeuditzer Kreuz has released the single “Keep Dancing” on June 5, 2026. The Schkeuditzer Kreuz “Keep Dancing” single pairs the “Fresh Graves Mix” of the track, taken from the 2025 album “Swan Grinder”, with the B-side “Poor Impulse Control (Three Days Deep)”.

The single is issued as a 7-inch vinyl release with a digital edition. The artwork is by Rufus Dayglo, and the audio was mastered by Martin Bowes of Attrition, who also mastered the parent album “Swan Grinder”. “Keep Dancing” originally appeared on that record; the “Fresh Graves Mix” reworks the track for this release.

Kieren Hills says: “Keep Dancing is a song of rebellion. It is a song about standing up for what you think is right. And it is a song of standing up for those who can’t stand up for themselves. It is about sticking together and sticking around to make our voice heard in a time where we feel under constant attack. The world feels pretty bad right now, but the song is about not switching off even when that feels like the only option.”

Kieren continues: “I have always wanted to have a go at putting guitar with one of my songs and this seemed like the perfect one to do. So I rerecorded it with guitars as well as redoing the drums and synths to make it sound more urgent and more, well, danceable.”

About the B-side “Three Days Deep” he says: “I took the original song and sped it up to 240bpm, distorted the fuck out of everything and well, we all know what Three Days Deep refers to…”

Meanwhile, Schkeuditzer Kreuz is also using the “Keep Dancing” release to make an early announcement of an own 19-date tour of Japan, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia in October this year.

Schkeuditzer Kreuz – Japan & Southeast Asia Tour 2026

• 02 Oct ’26, Fri – Japan / Tokyo – Earthdom
• 03 Oct ’26, Sat – Japan / Tokyo – Ochiai
• 04 Oct ’26, Sun – Japan / city TBC – venue TBC
• 06 Oct ’26, Tue – Japan / Shizuoka – Sou-gen
• 07 Oct ’26, Wed – Japan / Osaka – Hokage
• 08 Oct ’26, Thu – Cambodia / Siem Reap – Atlantis Metal Bar
• 09 Oct ’26, Fri – Cambodia / Phnom Penh – Distortion
• 10 Oct ’26, Sat – Thailand / Chiang Mai – Yoda Gallery
• 13 Oct ’26, Tue – Thailand / Bangkok – venue TBC
• 16 Oct ’26, Fri – Malaysia / Kuala Lumpur – Moutou
• 17 Oct ’26, Sat – Philippines / Bacolod City – Visayas Hardcore Punk Fest
• 18 Oct ’26, Sun – Philippines / General Santos City – venue TBC
• 19 Oct ’26, Mon – Philippines / Davao City – venue TBC
• 20 Oct ’26, Tue – Philippines / Cebu City – venue TBC
• 21 Oct ’26, Wed – Philippines / Quezon City – venue TBC
• 22 Oct ’26, Thu – Philippines / Dasmariñas Cavite – venue TBC
• 23 Oct ’26, Fri – Indonesia / Bali – Gimme Shelter
• 24 Oct ’26, Sat – Indonesia / Jogjakarta – venue TBC
• 25 Oct ’26, Sun – Indonesia / Purworejo – venue TBC

About Schkeuditzer Kreuz

Schkeuditzer Kreuz is the solo project of Kieren Hills, who was born in New Zealand and is based in Lawson, in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. The project combines electronic body music and industrial with crust and d-beat punk, a sound Hills has described with terms such as “industrial synth crust” and “d-beat raw synth punk”.

The discography includes “Isolated and Alone” (2021) and “No Life Left” (2023), the latter repressed on Bad Habit Records. In November 2024 the project shared a split 7-inch with Decide Today, which Side-Line reported at the time. The third album “Swan Grinder“, mastered by Martin Bowes, was released on August 30, 2025, and was supported by a European tour across September and October 2025.

The “Keep Dancing” single is released on June 5, 2026.

UK dark alternative artist j:dead released the single “Keep Walking” on June 5, 2026, via Infacted Recordings. The track is the seventh single in a year-long monthly release series and is available to stream and download.

“Keep Walking” continues a release campaign that j:dead launched in December 2025. Side-Line reported on the start of the run when the project launched the year-long single series with ‘Pressure’ in December 2025, and again in January 2026 when j:dead announced ‘Who Knows’ as the third single in the series. In March 2026, j:dead premiered the ‘Feeling Alone’ video on Side-Line one day ahead of its release.

These are the 2026 singles released so far: “Disgusting,” “Who Knows,” “Feeling Alone,” “Silence Calls,” “Over The Years” and “Keep Walking,” following “Pressure” in December 2025.

“Keep Walking” was inspired by the act of literally walking through trauma. It was written, performed and recorded by j:dead (Jay Taylor). Guitars were played by Hilger Tintel. The track was produced by Motel-Music and mastered by Studio-600.

About j:dead

j:dead is the project of UK artist Jay Taylor. He produces a mix of industrial, gothic, electronic and modern-metal. The project started with the single “Haunt” (2019), followed by “Feeding On Me” (2020) and the album “A Complicated Genocide” (2021).

Subsequent releases include the singles “Tearing Me Apart” (with Teknovore) and “I’ll Wait” (both 2021); “DAS OM3N” (a cover), the EP “Vision Of Time,” and the single “Hold Tight” (all 2022); and the collaborations “High Time (Chinese Takeaway)” with FabrikC and “Thrive” with Nature Of Wires (both 2022).

Side-Line covered the EP “Vision Of Time” on its 2022 release via Infacted Recordings. In 2023 j:dead issued “Surrendering,” a cover of “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” with Menschdefekt, the single “Harbour,” and the EP “ROOTS,” followed by “What We’ll Be” (2024) and “Pressure” (2025). The latter opened a year-long campaign of monthly singles continued in 2026 by “Disgusting,” “Who Knows,” “Feeling Alone,” “Silence Calls” and “Over The Years.” “Keep Walking,” released on June 5, 2026, is the seventh single in that series.

Clock DVA has released a 45th-anniversary remastered reissue of “Thirst” through The Grey Area of Mute. The Clock DVA “Thirst” reissue is the second instalment in Mute’s campaign to reissue the Sheffield industrial and post-punk group’s catalogue, following the 2025 remaster of “White Souls in Black Suits”. The reissue appears on double thirst-red 2LP, CD and digital.

“Thirst” was first issued in 1981 on Fetish Records . It was Clock DVA’s second album, following the 1980 debut “White Souls in Black Suits”, and marked the band’s move from the improvised, tape-driven approach of that debut into a sharper, song-based framework.

What the Clock DVA ‘Thirst’ reissue includes

The 2026 edition was cut from the original tapes with input from surviving members and carries the original sleeve notes by Genesis P-Orridge. It expands the original nine-track album with live recordings, the original single mixes of “4 Hours” and “Sensorium”, and two newly recorded DVATION 2026 versions by the current line-up. Side-Line previously reported on the remastered “Sensorium” two-track single issued ahead of the album.

Clock DVA – “Thirst” 2026 tracklist

1. “Uncertain”
2. “Sensorium”
3. “White Cell”
4. “Piano Pain”
5. “Blue Tone”
6. “North Loop”
7. “4 Hours”
8. “Moments”
9. “Impressions of African Winter”
10. “The Opening (Live at The Lyceum)”
11. “Remain Remain (Live at The Lyceum)”
12. “4 Hours (Single Mix)”
13. “Sensorium (Single Mix)”
14. “4 Hours (DVATION 2026 Version)”
15. “Sensorium (DVATION 2026 Version)”

The vinyl edition is a double thirst-red 2LP set, issued in a standard pressing and a signed art-card edition, while the CD comes in an eco card sleeve. The reissue is also available digitally and can be streamed and ordered via the official “Thirst” 2026 remaster page.

The original recordings feature Adi Newton (voice, clarinet, manipulated tapes, piano, modified guitar, EMS Synthi E), Steven J. Turner (bass and treatments), Charlie Collins (saxophones, African flute, African thumb piano), Paul Widger (guitar) and Roger Quail (drums). The album was recorded at Jacobs Studio in Surrey and produced and engineered by Ken Thomas with the band, with artwork by designer Neville Brody.

About Clock DVA

Clock DVA are an industrial, post-punk and electronic group from Sheffield, formed in 1978 by Adi Newton and Steven “Judd” Turner. The name pairs Anthony Burgess’ Nadsat slang from “A Clockwork Orange” with the Slavic word for “two”. The band worked early on with treated tape loops and EMS Synthi E electronics, releasing cassette material before the 1980 debut “White Souls in Black Suits” on Industrial Records; that debut returned in a remastered edition on The Grey Area of Mute in 2025, when Side-Line covered the single “Brigade”.

“Thirst” followed in 1981 on Fetish Records and reached the top of the UK indie charts. Newton later steered the project toward a more electronic direction, signing to Polydor for “Advantage” (1983) before moving into sample-based and cybernetic work on releases including “Buried Dreams” (1989) and into the early 1990s.

Newton also ran The Anti Group Communications (T.A.G.C.) as a separate research vehicle; Side-Line reported on the vinyl reissue of its 1994 album “Iso-Erotic Calibration”. The band reactivated in 2008 with a new line-up and has since revisited its catalogue, including the vinyl release of rare tracks on “Re-Konstructed”. The 45th-anniversary “Thirst” reissue continues this chronological re-presentation of the group’s early work.

Darkwave duo Vox Umbra released “Afterglow,” a two-song maxi-single paired with “The Train,” on June 5, 2026 as a digital release through Bandcamp.

Here’s the video for “Afterglow”.

The duo says that “Afterglow” / “The Train” “is a cohesive two-song statement about how people carry each other through uncertain times.”

The duo describes “Afterglow” as “a sweeping and urgent meditation on disillusionment, loyalty and perseverance in a world where direction grows uncertain,” citing the lyric “I loved you before the damage, I’ll love you through the break.” They describe “The Train” as “reflective, restrained and quietly devastating,” built around the lyric “Maybe this time I have done enough.”

About Vox Umbra

Vox Umbra is a darkwave duo formed in 2025 as a transcontinental collaboration. Tiffany, based in Seattle, composes the music; Florian, based in northern France, provides vocals. The two work across the geographic distance to produce what they describe as a fusion of introspective, melancholic rhythms with dark, cinematic arrangements.

The project’s first releases reached listeners through video premieres. Vox Umbra premiered the debut single “Cold Heart” as a video in October 2025, then premiered the video for “On the right” in November 2025 ahead of the duo’s debut EP, “Unchained.” The two-song maxi-single “Afterglow” / “The Train,” released June 5, 2026, follows that debut EP.

Electronic musician Rodrigo Passannanti released “Timeless Conceptions” on June 5, 2026 through Cyclical Dreams. Musicaly the nine-track album offers Berlin School and space-synth material. It is available as a digital release and on CD.

“Timeless Conceptions” runs to nine tracks: “Mineral Silence,” “Never Was,” “Time Watches Itself,” “Raccoglimi (feat Claudia Placanica),” “Voidstar,” “Dustborn,” “Magic Flight (ZX4827),” “Residual Existence,” and “Lucid Call.” The album was composed, produced and mastered by Rodrigo Passannanti in London, United Kingdom. Vocals on “Raccoglimi” are by Claudia Placanica (Costume) of Italy, and “Residual Existence” uses vocal samples credited to Audioslave.

The label describes the record as a sequence of “long, evolving sequences, widescreen ambient chords, and rich analog textures,” with the artist working under his own name rather than his harsher Hypercube alias.

“Timeless Conceptions” is available as a digital album on Bandcamp as well. A CD edition is available through Kunaki.

About Rodrigo Passannanti

Rodrigo Passannanti is an electronic music producer who has been active since the early 1990s, working across a range of styles under several aliases. He has collaborated with producers including Andy Hughes (The Orb), Michael Allen (Wolfgang Press, 4AD) and Håkan Lidbo.

Alongside composing music for short films and video games, he records experimental material under the name Hypercube. He is based in London, United Kingdom, and releases through the Cyclical Dreams label, whose catalogue spans vintage and contemporary ambient synth. “Timeless Conceptions”, issued June 5, 2026, is presented as a return to a classic Berlin School and space-synth approach under his own name.

French covers project Nouvelle Vague has announced a 13-date UK tour, “A Date With Depeche Mode,” running across March 2027 to mark a new album of the same name.

Nouvelle Vague was founded in 2003 by Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux, who reworked post-punk and new-wave songs in a bossa nova style. Libaux died in 2021 but the project continues to tour.

Tour dates for Nouvelle Vague

All confirmed dates take place in the United Kingdom in March 2027. Tickets went on sale on 5 June 2026.

• 4 March 2027 — Stratford-upon-Avon, Rother Street Arts House, United Kingdom
• 5 March 2027 — London, KOKO (Camden), United Kingdom
• 6 March 2027 — Manchester, Band on the Wall, United Kingdom
• 7 March 2027 — Norwich, The Waterfront, United Kingdom
• 10 March 2027 — Hove, The Old Market, United Kingdom
• 11 March 2027 — Cambridge, The Cambridge Junction, United Kingdom
• 12 March 2027 — Canterbury, Gulbenkian Theatre, United Kingdom
• 13 March 2027 — Liverpool, Hangar 34, United Kingdom
• 14 March 2027 — Bristol, The Trinity Centre, United Kingdom
• 17 March 2027 — Nottingham, Metronome, United Kingdom
• 18 March 2027 — Leeds, Howard Assembly Room, United Kingdom
• 19 March 2027 — Glasgow, Saint Luke’s, United Kingdom
• 20 March 2027 — Edinburgh, The Queen’s Hall, United Kingdom

‘A Date With Depeche Mode’ album

The tour celebrates the launch of Nouvelle Vague’s new album “A Date With Depeche Mode.” The set focuses on Depeche Mode material reworked in the band’s bossa nova and lounge idiom.

Depeche Mode and Nouvelle Vague have crossed paths before. The band’s third album, “3” (2009), included a version of “Master and Servant” sung by Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore with Nouvelle Vague vocalist Mélanie Pain. That album also featured Ian McCulloch of Echo & the Bunnymen, Terry Hall of The Specials, and Barry Adamson.

For this new album the band reworked thirteen iconic Depeche Mode songs. The whole was recorded in Rio with Brazilian musicians. The first single from “A Date with Depeche Mode” is a duet of “Enjoy the Silence” performed by Skye Edwards (Morcheeba) and Larry Love (Alabama 3) alongside Nouvelle Vague.

About Nouvelle Vague

Nouvelle Vague is a French covers project formed in Paris in 2003 by producers Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux. The name plays on three references at once: the French New Wave cinema of the 1960s, the new-wave music the band covers, and bossa nova. Collin’s idea was to record Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” in a bossa nova arrangement; the duo then recorded versions of Depeche Mode’s “Just Can’t Get Enough” and The Clash’s “The Guns of Brixton” and assembled a debut over roughly eight months.

The self-titled debut album “Nouvelle Vague” was released in 2004 on Peacefrog and reworked songs by acts including XTC, Modern English, Killing Joke, The Clash, Joy Division, Tuxedomoon, The Cure and The Undertones. The second album, “Bande à Part”, followed in 2006 and included versions of Buzzcocks’ “Ever Fallen in Love”, New Order’s “Blue Monday”, Echo & the Bunnymen’s “The Killing Moon” and Blondie’s “Heart of Glass.”

The band’s third album, “3” (2009), brought in guest vocalists linked with the original songs, including Martin Gore, Ian McCulloch, Terry Hall and Barry Adamson. “Couleurs sur Paris” (2010) collected French-language remakes with guests such as Vanessa Paradis and Cœur de pirate.

The project is known for a rotating cast of mostly female vocalists, several of whom went on to solo careers, including Camille, Phoebe Killdeer, Mélanie Pain, Nadéah Miranda and Élodie Frégé. Marc Collin also released “Hollywood, mon amour” (2008), applying the same method to 1980s film-soundtrack songs. After “3” and “Couleurs sur Paris,” the band reduced its activity before returning with the EP “Athol Brose” and the album “I Could Be Happy” in 2016.

Olivier Libaux died in 2021, and Collin has continued to lead the project live. The 2027 UK tour, “A Date With Depeche Mode,” ties the band’s covers approach to a new album built around Depeche Mode’s catalogue.

Poeme Electronique is a British band formed in 1980, featuring the quartet Dave Hewson, Sharon Abbott, Julie Ruler, and Les Hewson. “The Echoes Fade” was originally released as a single. In 2009, a self-titled album was released, featuring many other songs from the early years. Now, many years later, comes this reissue with exactly the same number of tracks.

The 16 tracks take us back in time, and in that sense, Poeme Electronique sounds truly magical: synth music from a bygone era. This is pure Electro-Wave with indescribable space-like sounds, but also Psychedelic elements. The main course remains Electro-Wave, supported by slow yet danceable rhythms and female vocals. The music is not an ode to the 80s, but simply the 80s itself, with very recognizable sounds and effects. This is vintage Electro, featuring some strong tracks as well. However, I find the eight tracks on the second vinyl somewhat weaker, sometimes even a bit bland, as if the inspiration had run out.

“The Echoes Fade” seems to me primarily an album for insiders and collectors of the golden age of 80s electro. (Rating:7).

Listen to “She’s An Image”:

https://davehewson.bandcamp.com/track/shes-an-image

This is already the sixth album from the French act Dekad. We had to wait another four years for “A Distorted View”, but fortunately the excellent predecessor “Nowhere Lines” (2022) remained fresh in our memories.

Operator JB Lacassagne has prepared ten new tracks for us, preceded by the single “I Should Have”. The album offers a diverse selection of material: on the one hand, harder, darker, and highly danceable songs infused with clear EBM elements, interwoven with the characteristic beeps and sequencer patterns so typical of the French Boredom label; on the other hand, quieter, more ethereal, and even ballad-oriented Electro-Pop compositions. Throughout the album, these contrasting elements are held together by a strong foundation of melodic Pop sensibilities. The first half of the album is simply outstanding. Despite the wide range of influences and styles, one excellent track follows another. From menacing atmospheres and aggressive sequences filled with dark sonic manipulations to soft, dreamy passages enhanced by refined arrangements, Dekad seems capable of turning everything he touches into gold. The closing tracks lose a little of the momentum established earlier on. They are by no means weak, but they do feel somewhat less inspired compared to the album’s strongest moments.

From a technical and production standpoint, this may well be Dekad’s finest album to date, although I still have a particular fondness for its predecessor. Either way, “A Distorted View” is an essential listen and a welcome highlight within today’s often rather predictable Electro-Pop landscape. (Rating:8).

Listen to “Adrenaline”:

https://boredomproduct.bandcamp.com/track/adrenaline

Spanish synthpop and futurepop act Culture Kultür release their new album “Atomic” tomorrow, June 6, 2026, through Caustic Records, with a launch concert on the same date in Madrid. The Culture Kultür “Atomic” album is the group’s first full-length since “Humanity” in 2019.

Tickets are sold online right here and in physical outlets Rara Avis and Escridiscos.

The album was preceded by the single “Atomic Radio”, which we covered when it appeared in March 2026. Caustic Records also issued the band’s “Time” on vinyl in 2025.

About Culture Kultür

Culture Kultür is a synthpop and electronic project from Málaga, Spain, formed in 1992 around José Luis Clotet, who performs under the name Josua. Singer Salva Maine joined in 1999 and has fronted the band’s recordings since. The live line-up has included Distortiongirl on keyboards.

The group’s studio discography includes “Reflex” (1999), “Revenge” (2001), “Reborn” (2005, Out Of Line), “Spirit” (2010, Caustic Records) and “Humanity” (2019, Caustic Records). The band’s catalogue moves between synthpop, futurepop and darker electronics, and it has been signed to Caustic Records for the recent years.

“Atomic” is the band’s latest album, released on June 6, 2026, alongside the launch concert in Madrid.

Norwegian darkwave and cyberpunk duo Rule of Two have released a cover of Depeche Mode’s “It’s No Good“. The Rule of Two “It’s No Good” version is accompanied by an official music video directed by band member Kristian Liljan.

The cover is Rule of Two’s fifth single of 2026, following “Afterlife” via Polypiel Records on May 7 and “All Time Low” in February.

‘It’s No Good’: the original

“It’s No Good” was released on March 31, 1997, as the second single from Depeche Mode’s ninth studio album “Ultra” (Mute Records, April 14, 1997). The track was written by Martin Gore and produced by Tim Simenon, recorded at Eastcote Studios in London and Larrabee West in Los Angeles, and mixed at Abbey Road Studios. It reached number five in the United Kingdom and number one in Denmark, Spain, Sweden and on the US Billboard Dance Club Play chart.

About Rule of Two

Rule of Two is a darkwave and cyberpunk duo formed in Oslo, Norway, in 2023 by Ronny Flissundet and Kristian Liljan, both from the Oslo metal and alternative rock underground with prior activity in Damokles, Dunderbeist and Kite.

The project blends eerie synthesizers, mechanical rhythms and glitch textures into a sound the duo describes as taking a darker, more industrial direction with each release. Their debut album “Aiming for the Sun” was announced by Side-Line in November 2025. The “It’s No Good” cover, out June 4, 2026, is their first cover of a Depeche Mode track.

Montréal-based darkwave and dark synthwave producer Das Mörtal has released the double single “Parasite & Ghost” via Lisbon Lux Records. The release also serves as a preview of the forthcoming mini-album “DECVY I,” scheduled for October 29, 2026, on the same label.

The double single pairs two tracks that occupy distinct stylistic territory. “Parasite” is described as a fast-paced darkwave track about illness. Regarding the track, Das Mörtal says: “An illness has affected my body for some time now, and Parasite was made under a pain that I can’t quite shake off.” “Ghost” is a witch-house-infused pop single, with catchy vocal melodies and driving kick drum-infused percussion.

Alongside the double single, Das Mörtal has announced “DECVY I,” a mini-album due October 29, 2026, via Lisbon Lux Records.

About Das Mörtal

Das Mörtal is the project of Cristobal Cortes, a Santiago, Chile-born producer who grew up in Montréal. His musical journey began in Berlin, where he relocated roughly a decade and a half ago seeking electronic music with a more aggressive, punk-oriented edge than the minimalist house and techno sound that dominated the Montréal scene at the time. In Berlin, Cortes encountered the DJ culture of clubs associated with Ellen Allien’s BPitch Control label, an experience that informed his understanding of dancefloor dynamics and formed his subsequent production approach.

Back in Montréal, Cortes developed the Das Mörtal project and found a label home in Lisbon Lux Records, a Montréal-based imprint that helped disseminate his music internationally. His debut album “Always Loved” was followed by further EPs and singles, and his catalogue expanded to include the full-length “Bury To Sorrow” (October 2023), a twelve-track record featuring a collaboration with Dance With the Dead.

An instrumental version of the album was released in May 2024. His most recent work before the current release was the EP “Origins” (October 17, 2025), which included the single “Falsche Daten”

And now there is the double single “Parasite & Ghost”. “DECVY I” follows on October 29, 2026, on the same label.