matar la luz blends darkwave, post-punk, and dream-pop across Atlanta-based solo artist MatAre‘s latest full-length, balancing brooding guitar work and synth-driven atmosphere with moments of melodic warmth. Written over several years while Matt split his time between Atlanta and South Florida, the album explores impermanence, relationships, and the changing nature of memory. Its wide-ranging influences, from post-punk revival to ’80s thrash and vintage doo-wop, add further character to the collection.
“Prologue” kicks off the album excellently, touting a sound resembling a cross between Wild Nothing and The Cure. Post-punk bass brooding and spacey synths combine with a hopeful vocal presence, letting out “and in the end we’ll be together” as glistening guitars add to the mix. References to an ever-protecting “light” complement the warming rock appeal, setting the album in approachable motion. Ensuing track “The Variant” enthralls as well, heavier in its initial rhythmic strut and twangy guitar movements. An impassioned vocal presence around two minutes and thirty seconds is particularly striking, as is the track’s guitar movements; the main riff takes some influence from MatAre’s interest in ’80s thrash metal, fusing wonderfully with more familiar darkwave and post-punk inclinations.
In addition to the previously featured goth-forward gem “Dancing With The Spirits,” another album standout is “Lucidity.” Prancing guitar jangles and illuminated synths entice right away, as the artist’s title-touting vocal refrain moves with hypnotic charm alongside. The shifts between sturdy post-punk verses and more caressing hookiness are fantastic. From the brighter, jangling works like “A Knot You Can’t Unwind” to synth-propelled bouts of darkness in the vein of “Dancing With The Spirits,” matar la luz (meaning “to kill the light”) is another excellent output from MatAre, also impressing previously with a multitude of releases.
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“The Variant” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
