"I’ve seen you try harder with things that you care less for / What’s the use in fighting it?"
There is something about snow or imagery of snow that just seems so purely connected to melancholy post punk / goth pop and such imagery and North Carolina based Secret Shame's dreamy and emotionally glacial "Pure" come together in their Official Video as directed by the band themselves. The track sways in such a wonderful way as a lone guitar pushes out counter patterns to an ambling bass line and open tom tom beat while synths float in the background. When a second guitar dances around the patterns, harmonizing with the first guitar it feels so beautiful.
Lena Machina's vocal aesthetic painted with water colored melancholia and gazing at past remembrances as askew (even surreal) poetry tumbles from her lips is beautiful, cinematic and anchored to things we can relate to. There is a touch of 80's / 90's post punk / goth reflections that do recall the kind of musical D.N.A of artists like Cocteau Twins or Slowdive or The Sundays or The Cure or an amalgam of all of them but framed in a darker way.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://secretshame.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/ShameSecret
https://www.facebook.com/secretshameband/
https://www.instagram.com/secretshameband/
https://soundcloud.com/user-477692705
Secret Shame has one constant to the way they write music: it’s ever-changing. This North Carolina four-piece doesn’t rely on just a single songwriter. Their collective writing process leads to an eclectic yet expansive sound of a band not willing to pigeonhole itself into a single subgenre of goth or post-punk.
With Secret Shame’s newest single “Dissolve,” they’ve reached into an unknown territory and grabbed hold of new sounds while still managing to evoke the same feelings of previous releases. Lena Machina's (she/her) vocals, which have the ability to expand from manic and feverish to soft and soothing, harmonize and twist around the instruments. Underneath the pretty facade lies self-destructive lyrical content, instruments that bite each other, and hard emotions that don’t ever fade. Secret Shame has never held back from difficult topics or societal downfalls, and this is just as relevant on their new single as it is on their debut album, Dark Synthetics.
Billie (she/they) creates sparkling guitar melodies that ebb and flow, sometimes lying beneath Matthew’s (he/him) skillfully eccentric basslines, and at other times breaking through the thick fog of reverb. The rhythm between the bass and drums is driving, often in unison, but at times more of a conversation as Nathan's (he/him) drumming not only lays the foundation, but establishes layers of its own. Shiny synth melodies dance through the tracks and Lena spits out metaphorical lyrics about mental illness and manipulation. Secret Shame may nod to 80s post-punk and new wave, but the sound they’ve created is distinctly their own.
As evident on their 2019 full-length Dark Synthetics, Secret Shame create sonically driven landscapes painted with colorfully powerful lyrics, bouncing between both chaotic and calm moments that are equally destructive in message. Dark Synthetics saw Secret Shame creating a space for you to get lost in -- the kind where you’re free to contemplate and relate, taking each song’s essence and shaping it to fit your own life and experience. It’s a gothic punk sound not just to revel in, but to think critically through -- something only carefully crafted music can do. Whether the songs are melancholic or angry, fast-paced or slow, the fervent need to communicate through music is a commonality between their diverse catalogue and makes for powerful live performances.
“Dissolve” was recorded November 2019 at The Ward in Richmond, VA. The self-released 7” to accompany the singles will be available on June 5th, 2020.
Bandcamp pre-order: https://secretshame.bandcamp.com/album/dissolve-b-w-pure
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