Grapthar's Song of the Day: S U R V I V E 'Wardenclyffe'

grapthar (74)in #music • 5 years ago

S U R V I V E - Wardenclyffe

Survive is a group I only

discovered a few years ago, and was blown away by their entire discography. The group is made up of Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein (composers of the Stranger Things score), along with Adam Jones and Mark Donica. They were formed in 2009 in Austin, TX, and play synthpop, with a retro sort of tinge to the general timbre of the synths they use, but a very modern and diverse angle to the songwriting. The complexity of the writing is what really caught my ear; I dig artists like Kavinsky, with that retro-80s vibe, but these guys take it to a completely new and unique place with their writing abilities.

Listen to Wardenclyffe by S U R V I V E here.

This is from the band's

2016 album, RR7349, which was my first introduction the group. Everything about this album is amazing, the synths, the drums, the production, the writing... it just really stands apart from most retro-electronic music. My favorite part of this song is what I guess would be the Chorus, where they begin on the tonic, a i chord, then move up to a ii (not diminished, which gives it an awesome Dorian quality), before going to the Vii and Vi. The song also begins with a really dissonant, creepy synth line that I really like, which comes up again later in the tune. You can see why Stranger Things would use their music, it feels nostalgic and scary, but also surprisingly new and fresh.