Swiss synth-pop duo Veil Of Light new album ‘Sundancing’ on AVANT! Records and Q/A with artists by Joseph McCain

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Two years after their previous effort, regular as clockwork, Swiss throbbing synth pop duo Veil Of Light is back with a new album and – rhetorical as it may sound – these guys just keep on getting better and better.

在他们的上一张作品两年后,瑞士悸动的合成器流行音乐二人组Veil Of Light带着新专辑回来了,而且–虽然听起来很夸张–这些家伙只是在不断地变得更好。

If you have followed the Zurich-based outfit over the past few years, you must have noticed the constant moving towards 80’s FM new wave and synthpop tones – without losing their electro/body music outline – that have marked the band’s parable, especially since their latest Landslide LP. 

如果你在过去几年里一直关注着这支位于苏黎世的乐队,你一定注意到他们不断向80年代的调频新浪潮和合成器流行音乐的色调发展–同时又不失其电子/身体音乐的轮廓–这标志着乐队的典范,尤其是自他们最新的《Landslide》唱片以来。

Sundancing is their sixth full-length and it stays the course, bringing what we’ve just said to the next step. Nine new dancy and bright tunes with emotional depth that blend lush instrumentation and robust rhythms, guided by funky and rubbery basslines. Syncopated rhythm sections match suburban cool synths in the lead single Apricot Kiss and Hypersleep, while Raindancing and Tonight summon a sinuosity long gone since the mid Eighties. 

Sundancing是他们的第六张全长专辑,它坚持了这一路线,将我们刚才所说的带到了下一个阶段。九首新的具有情感深度的花哨而明亮的曲子,融合了丰富的乐器和强劲的节奏,并由时髦和橡胶的基调引导。在主打歌《杏之吻》和《催眠》中,切分的节奏部分与郊区凉爽的合成器相匹配,而《Raindancing》和《Tonight》则唤起了八十年代中期以来久违的辛辣感。

The musical backdrop here serves as the fundament for emotional vocals delivering lyrics dealing with the fragility of love, joy and loneliness. 

这里的音乐背景是情绪化人声的基础,歌词涉及爱情的脆弱性、快乐和孤独。

There’s some subtle addictiveness to these songs, one that will gently grab you by the collar of your coat and stick the refrains from Sundancing inside your head for good. Veil Of Light might make it look easy to keep it neat without being minimalist, intimate without being depressing, romantic in the most true sense of the word, but we know that’s possibly the hardest thing to do. 

这些歌曲有一些微妙的上瘾性,它们会轻轻地抓住你的衣领,并将《圣日耳曼》中的反问句永远地塞进你的脑子里。Veil Of Light可能使它看起来很容易保持整洁而不失简约,亲密而不失压抑,在最真实的意义上保持浪漫,但我们知道这可能是最难做到的事情。

What made you two start making music together?

Before Veil Of Light Markus and I played together in a conventional post-punk band. I started Veil Of Light as a side project in 2012 and recorded the first self-titled EP. Markus soon after joined first as a live musician and later as a full member and also contributor to the music. We always shared interests in arts, music, movies. Also musically we complement each other very good meaning we both have our strengths and limitations that are opposite to each other. But together we get along very well which makes working on music very refreshing, fun and above all very productive.

是什么让你们两个开始一起做音乐?

在Veil Of Light之前,Markus和我在一个传统的后朋克乐队中一起演奏。我在2012年开始把Veil Of Light作为一个副业,并录制了第一张同名EP。不久之后,Markus先是作为现场音乐家加入,后来成为正式成员,也是音乐的贡献者。我们总是对艺术、音乐、电影有共同的兴趣。另外,在音乐上我们互补性很强,也就是说我们都有自己的长处和局限性,彼此相反。但是我们在一起相处得非常好,这使得我们在音乐方面的工作非常新鲜、有趣,最重要的是非常有成效。

How does being from Zürich influence your music?

We started the band when we were both living in Zurich. We still rehearse and write most of the music in Zurich even though I don’t live there anymore. I don’t think Zurich has a specific influence on our music. It’s more our shared interests, tastes and friendship that influences us.

来自苏黎世对你们的音乐有什么影响?

我们成立乐队的时候,我们都住在苏黎世。我们仍然在苏黎世排练和写大部分的音乐,尽管我不再住在那里了。我不认为苏黎世对我们的音乐有什么特别的影响。更多的是我们共同的兴趣、品味和友谊对我们的影响。

Do you find aesthetics important to you as a band?

Yes, aesthetics are very important for us. I am a graphic designer so that’s my daily bread. That’s why I’m doing almost everything related to Veil Of Light in terms of design like all the artwork, photography and video production. We see Veil Of Light more as an art project rather than „just“ a band. The presentation and look of everything is very important for us, actually as much as the music itself.

你们觉得美学对你们这个乐队很重要吗?

是的,美学对我们非常重要。我是一个平面设计师,所以这是我的日常工作。这就是为什么我几乎做了所有与Veil Of Light有关的设计,比如所有的艺术作品、摄影和视频制作。我们把Veil Of Light看作是一个艺术项目,而不是 “仅仅 “一个乐队。一切的表现和外观对我们来说都非常重要,实际上和音乐本身一样重要。

How do you try new sounds while maintaining your signature style?

We don’t really think about „trying new sounds“ and consciously wanting to evolve. I guess it just happens. We definitely don’t want to do the same stuff over and over again but that’s more like a natural evolution and being bored of things we already did rather than thinking about what we could do next. We just do what we want to listen ourselves and what we like and what drives us at the moment. So we naturally come up with new sounds and new visuals as we progress.

你们是如何在保持自己标志性风格的同时尝试新的声音的?

我们并没有真正想过 “尝试新的声音 “和有意识地想要发展。我想它只是发生了。我们肯定不想重复做同样的事情,但这更像是一种自然的进化,对我们已经做过的事情感到厌烦,而不是考虑我们下一步能做什么。我们只是做我们自己想听的东西,做我们喜欢的东西,做当下驱动我们的东西。因此,随着我们的进步,我们自然会有新的声音和新的视觉效果。

How did you find a unique sound for this new album?

„Sundancing“ was written in the first half of 2021. We just felt the need to do something more upbeat or dancy and overall more carefree. Maybe it was the whole rather depressing Covid time. As for the unique sound we were always fascinated by FM synthesis and that trebly maybe cheap and digital sounding late 80s sonic aesthetics. It was always a part of our sound but now it’s maybe more upfront and prominently featured. Vocally I really challenged myself and wanted to put more work and thought into my vocals and lyrics. The songs are more vocal driven and “pop” than before where they were more processed and buried in the mix. We are very happy with the end result and think it’s our finest piece of work yet. It’s catchy and fun but still has emotional depth which is very important for us.

你是如何为这张新专辑找到独特的声音的?

“Sundancing “是在2021年上半年写的。我们只是觉得需要做一些更欢快或更花哨的东西,总体上更无忧无虑。也许是整个相当压抑的科维德时期。至于独特的声音,我们总是对调频合成和80年代末那种高亢的、也许是廉价的、数字的声音美学感到着迷。它一直是我们声音的一部分,但现在它也许更多地被放在前面,更突出地表现出来。在声乐方面,我真的挑战了自己,想在我的歌声和歌词中投入更多的工作和思考。与以前相比,这些歌曲更多的是由人声驱动的,而且是 “流行 “的,因为以前的歌曲更多的是经过处理的,埋在混音中。我们对最终的结果非常满意,认为这是我们目前最好的作品。它朗朗上口,很有趣,但仍然有情感深度,这对我们来说非常重要。

Check the previous news about the release:

PREORDER ALBUM

https://lnk.fu.ga/veiloflight_sundancing

BANDCAMP

https://veiloflight.bandcamp.com/album/sundancing