Kalistan

[Doc]

The New Wave of RF shows signs of splinters
As Addisjah takes a turn toward Art Rock, new Luthorian band Anthro Syndicate takes Synth to the next level
Sulari, Duchy of Suldanor
November 12, 5680


Addisjah's follow up Album "The Come Down" is loaded with Art Rock, and even Calypso

The New Wave of RF is a mere two and a half years old, if you consider that the new era was ushered in by Carly Kaye's chart topping "Love" and it seems to have essentially taken over Kalistani radio and clubs. But just as new clubs are opening, and RF show attendance has shown decade and even century highs, the genre shows its first signs of fracturing, as early adopters are spreading further out while new acts are getting deeper into the genre. One example is Addisjah, Port Swede's early reps in the scene. Their follow up album for ARC, The Come Down veers off into left field, keeping its synths enough to stay within the genre, but in a lot of ways abandoning dance for orchestral arrangements, jazz, hip hop and even calypso.

"We never wanted to be considered a New Wave band," said lead singer Diana Randall. "I mean that's not ALL that we wanted to be seen as. I think this band is talented enough that we can try new things. We were pretty impressed by what Anne Jean can do within her genre, and we have always been more of a fan of hers. She does what she wants, and we can too."

Addisjah's fans were mixed on the new direction, with some praising the uniqueness of their record, while others were disappointed. "Well, I head some of the pre-releases," said Luke Memmel of Sulari. "I kind of liked what I heard there: "I'm moving on" was a pretty good tune. It's video was pretty weird, but that band is famous for using a lot of drugs, so I sort of expected that. But I bought the record, and there is all kinds of music on there I wasn't expecting, and honestly, it was more like a let down because I wanted that kind of more dance oriented music, and they have like one song on there which I would even call RF."

The band said that the record is intended to be an experimental record, to stretch the scope of popular music. "We have some great tunes on there," said Randall. "but people who were expecting like 'Tonight Part 2' probably won't like it. We spent some time in Gaduridos, for example, and we heard calypso there, and thought we should be able to hear this on the radio in Kalistan as well, and so we decided to do a calypso track ourself, for example. We covered the Malisindi hit 'Number 1' for this record--Mostly because it is an awesome song, but it also is kind of unexpected from us. We know people will grow to appreciate it." Randal noted there is also a brass and string arrangement for the song, which allows the song to dip its toe into the Art Rock world.

As Addisjah veers away from New Wave, other bands are arriving to take up the flag and drive deeper into the genre. A recent arrival from Luthori, Anthro Syndicate, has taken the next step on their debut record on KMI, the self titled Anthro Syndicate. The record, which received strong reviews from both fans and critics, focuses on the synthesized sound of music itself. "Well, music is not a natural thing, is it?" asked lead singer and songwriter Charles Minor, of Northminster in Luthori. "It's almost completely human produced. Therefore, synthesized. We have analog instruments, but on our record, I think the bass and the voices are the only things that fall into that category. Everything else electronic." Minor added that Carly Kaye was a big influence for the band.

Anthro Syndicate features two twin sisters, Anna and Elizabeth Scoffield, who share lead vocals with Minor. "It creates a very particular sound," said Minor. "Their voices and harmonies are spot on identical, and so I have been able to match mine to theirs but an octave lower, and it creates this weird robotic sound that lends to the synthetic nature of the music we are producing. There aren't a lot of bands making music in the Kalistani music scene that are able to pull this off, and I think it might be the next step in the genre." Minor jokingly calls his band Anthro-Optional.

So far, Anthro-Syndicate have been signed to a development deal with KMI. "We'll see how the first record does," said Minor. "KMI heard our demo and gave us some money to record the record, and of course we won't see a lot of money from that until they recoup their investment, but KMI just has a better distribution than anything we had back home, so we'll stay for a while, see if it works out and maybe make another record sometime." The first single from their debut is called "On That Day."

As the paths of New Wave begin splintering and diverging, you can check out both directions right here. Below is the first release (not quite a single, because it is not being promoted to radio) from Addisjah's followup- ARC's The Come Down called "Number 1" and Anthro Syndicate's first actual single, "On That Day" from their recent KMI Release The Anthro Syndicate:

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAb8Q9X2xAc]
Addisjah's "Number 1" from their new experimental LP, ARC's The Come Down

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqqBs6kkzHE]
Anthro Syndicate's first Kalistani single "On That Day"

@KaliRawkMonthly