TUNES // Alpha Minus – Circles (ft. Christopher Murphy)

Promising new EP, Nightsounds, from Istanbul-born / Berlin-based Alpha Minus. Parts of the 4-track debut would feel at home on the Stranger Things soundtrack, others have a sort of goth-nostalgia going for them – the sort of thing that might take you back to wandering around a Hot Topic circa 2004 (The Cruxshadows, whom I was briefly and hopelessly obsessed with for about 2 months in the 8th grade, come to mind).
The EP’s highlight is its opening track, Circles, a darkly hypnotic meditation on repetition and futility. The song mirrors its lyrical themes, its fatalistic refrain “We’re running in the same circles, running again, running again,” repeated over and over like a mantra. But too often when we feel caught in life’s cycles, we are unable to perceive evolution taking place. Such is the case with this song. Each revolution returns to the beginning of the same verse, but the harmony and instrumentation grow and morph through repetition. The trumpet sprinkled throughout the velvety synths is a particularly nice touch.
TL;DR – Pack a bowl and throw Nightsounds on your “Existential Halloween Party” playlist.