This month sees the release of the self-titled debut album from Light Asylum, a New York-based synth duo fronted by the fiery, intense Shannon Funchess. One of the best and darkest albums to come out yet this year, it’s put us in a dour mood right in time for summer, and we rather like it that way. As such, we’re using the release of Light Asylum as inspiration to round up the greatest moody, atmospheric electronic music we’ve heard this year — so close the blinds and turn these records up.
Light Asylum — Light Asylum
Light Asylum is the kind of record obsessions are born from. The smoldering presence of frontwoman Shannon Funchess, a Grace Jones for the cold wave set, gives way to a collection of songs that are at once tender and barbed like wire. At the center of this nearly flawless record is “Shallow Tears,” a ballad that’s one of the five best songs of its kind in recent memory, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Maps” included. At the other end of the spectrum, “Angel Tears” is a beautifully upbeat and heartbreaking tune that’s crystalline until the splintering end.
