By Keith Walsh
As the third single from their second album, Blaklight shows the strength of their songwriting and production. The song “Crack” was one of many standouts on Into The Void, which features effective, melancholy vocals by Brian Belknap and masterful production and keyboard work by Adam Collier.
‘Crack’s b-side is a delicious rendering of a classic track from 1984 by Echo And The Bunnymen — and a superb choice, despite the initial doubts of the team.
About selecting “The Killing Moon” to interpret, Belknap explains: “I’ve had this one on our list of potential covers for a while, and we almost did it for the ‘Nightmares’ b-side. We decided it was gonna be too hard, so we passed it over. It’s one of my all time favorite songs, and it’s impossible to improve on it, but we had had fun and did our best to make it our own.”
The choice of one of the most popular songs on alternative radio in the early 80s is a brilliant choice. Though not a synth band, Echo And The Bunnymen arguably set the stage melodically and thematically for later synth-based dark wave through the decades.
Belknap’s vocals on the track convey the necessary pathos. I asked him how he prepares to do his takes, from his home studio. “Honestly,” he said, “I do most of my recording in short bursts during the day. It’s more like, ‘I’ve got a few minutes and I better get it done right now or else!’ The ticking clock is my motivation.”
Blaklight Behind The Scenes
Blaklight’s smartly engineered sound is all ‘inside the box,’ using VSTs (virtual synths) resulting in a pristine digital sound. As Collier reveals, he uses an M-Audio controller, and the following virtual synths: Ana2, Hive, Sylenth, Massive, Element, and Serum.
Collier explained: “My go-to DAW is Logic. I’ve used a couple others, but Logic makes the most sense to me.” I asked him how he goes about constructing the songs before presenting them to Belknap for lyrics and vocal melodies. “I don’t really follow a pattern for my work flow,” he said. “Drums and bass are usually last for me though. Sometimes a sound will spark and idea and sometimes I mess around with chords and piano.”
As for the intriguing lyrics, that present everyday struggles in mysterious ways, Belknap was somewhat revealing. “Well,” he said, “I’ve gotten into too much detail about some of my lyrics in the past, so I’ll plead the 5th here. But, I will say that my lyrics are usually inspired by real life events, whether in my life or in others. But I like to leave the door open just enough so that what I’m writing can relate to different subjects, depending on how you interpret it.”
The lyrics of “Crack” present shyness in a poetic way. It’s the familiarity with light and dark, and the ability to portray emotions in novel ways that is Belknap’s speciality.
All I see/All I feel
Wrap my eyes/Covered in black
In the dark/In the light
My disguise begins to crack
I can see your face/You don’t care
I can talk to you/If I dare
(From ‘Crack’, by Blaklight)
Blaklight will be playing their first live shows early in 2022, which will be a treat for lovers of beat heavy, melodic synthpop. As Collier put it: “I haven’t heard us in a club setting yet, but I know it will be massive.” Purchase tickets here: Blaklight At Bar Sinister Mar. 19, 2022, Hollywood, CA.
BlakLight Links
BlakLight Bandcamp
BlakLight on Facebook
Echo And The Bunnymen on YouTube
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