Today's post spans an entire globe, a music movement and an entire generation
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Slicarus was another one of the early users of EDMP Discord, before we achieved Partner status and were sub-1000 members. He stood out to me as a quiet, introverted 16-year-old from Australia with an absolute passion for the synthwave genre - a style of music based around the adolescence of the generation that babysat me, and I'm almost literally twice his age. His uncanny ability to capture this retro mood and wistful, soaring energy captivated me, and I was fascinated by his production.
I'll admit that my previous interest in synthwave was much more focused on the analog synths themselves, as I'm a gearhead; my own personal taste tends to the most cutting-edge and new technology, rather than synthwave's throwback to the past. But the brilliance and nostalgia of the Stranger Things soundtrack alongside Slic's epic arpeggios jump-started that interest, and when he suggested doing a collab, I was immediately inspired.
To write the lyrics, I went back in time to my own middle-school years - the epic angst, the intense two-week romances, the insane amount of drama that could happen on lunch break. After doing lyrics, I also wrote some synth-guitar lines for the breakdown, and worked with him on the mix until it was just right. I was so pleased that this track was selected by the amazing NewRetroWave channel and so far have gotten some really cool comments from across the world from people about how this song resonates with them!!
So there you have it. A distance of... 8,760 miles. 15 years. 30 years of musical preference. Coming together in one track.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJRF5195qdM
Lyrics As we catch our breath in this blinding light and it feels right I can't bear for us to end the night Will you stay the night?
Must we break this spell back into our shells Can we wait until it's light? I break all the rules act the perfect fool because I wanna make you mine
Don't wanna wait another day for this feeling Am I dreaming? I know I'd end my life right here I been sleeping, I been dreaming
And we wake up, piece together And I've got my taste for forever And I called it from the start There goes my bleeding heart
Just like an after school special We're an after school special (x2)
Now you're in the halls and I catch my smile Looking at you I can hardly hide what's going on And I've tried a while
And I've dried my sweat Can't tell no one yet Cause they'll say we move to fast We break all the rules Act like perfect fools Hope that love could everlast
In this after school special (x4)
Falling, I'm falling (x2) Falling, I'm falling deep into this Falling, I'm falling into your kiss, into your kiss
Don't wanna wait another day for this feeling Am I dreaming? I know I'd end my life right here I been sleeping, I been dreaming
And we wake up, piece together And I've got my taste for forever And I called it from the start There goes my bleeding heart
Just like an after school special We're an after school special (x4)