An enthralling new album from _SHOE, THE RITUAL immerses across spacey synth lushness and powerful guitar soaring alike. The Castelcucco, Italy-based artist takes narrative inspiration from the first season of the Devisal Story, described as “a multifaceted project that involves filmmaking, music and comic book development.” Rogue malware and its arrival into the physical world are at the forefront of the narration, complemented aptly by a sharp synth-led production with sporadic vocal and guitar involvement.
“ROBOTIC_CAPTIVITY” is amongst the album’s numerous standouts. An invigorating electro-pop drive complements a vocal desire to “see the light,” beckoning to ’80s synth-pop nostalgia as the “break the chains / let me go,” call induces replays. Elsewhere, the opening track “TRASCENDANCE” compels with a serene, space-y intrigue — fusing pulsing bass hypnotics and shimmering synths amidst spoken-word remarks; “this doesn’t look good,” emits a sense of appropriate foreboding within this futuristic world. From gems like these to the guitar-touched feverishness of “REALITY MANIPULATION,” THE RITUAL thoroughly engrosses with its melodic and atmospheric appeal.
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“ROBOTIC_CAPTIVITY” 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, as part of the artist’s promotional campaign.
