By Keith Walsh
The Texas-based electronic duo Weird Wolves formed in 2018 when video game designer Raphaël Colantonio met Ava Gore, (daughter of Depeche Mode founder Martin Gore) to collaborate on a video game track called “Realization” for the video game Prey:Mooncrash, a product of Colantonio’s company Arkane Studios, founded in 1999. With dark, catchy tunes featuring themes of danger, adventure and heartbreak, the duo have released a string of singles, the album It All Dies in 2023, and now My Dreams Are Calling You, their most intriguing collection so far.
Whatever production secrets and drums and wires are being manipulated by Weird Wolves on ‘My Dreams Are Calling You,’ carefully sculpted sounds fill the album, resulting in exciting new techno styles.
There’s lots of heavy bass and drums, powerful beats with melodic and lyrical fatalism and intrigue, with both members contributing guitar, synths and writing. Colantonio and Gore have plenty of vocal chemistry, despite being only musical colleagues and not romantic partners.
The opening track “The Wound That Keeps On Giving” has all the grittiness one could desire from dark techno. From the first moments, there’s an originality in the sound textures and stylistic production choices that others creating electronic music might learn from.
“A Lovely Day” is a simmering post punk tune with edgy guitar tones accenting a groove that reminds one of Nine Inch Nails. Production and mixing are warm and atmospheric, and despite the use of computer-based synths, there’s an organic feel to it all. Whatever production secrets and drums and wires are being manipulated by Weird Wolves on ‘My Dreams Are Calling You,’ carefully sculpted sounds fill the album, resulting in exciting new techno styles.
“The Passengers” is minimalist and sinister. International mystique plays into all of this due to Colantonio’s French roots and Gore’s British origins. The mix here is pumped up in comparison to the version on 2023’s It All Dies. “Rage” paints a picture of desire in a society of machinations and vicious games, with the flesh and blood passion of the vocal performances signaling a protest against oppression and decadence. Art rock-tinged funky bass popping adds a bit of whimsical color and the strange sound certainly lives up the band’s name.
“The Construct” starts with an appropriately machinelike beat underlying the themes of control and fabrication. There’s something akin to the melancholy of Siouxsie and The Banshees and a similar lyrical concept of searching for answers when surrounded by darkness. A different mix of “The Construct” is found on It All Dies.
“You thought of me since that one click/I’m that voice in your head that just won’t quit/I want your money/This is America/ Just give it here and now/You pay to play me/This is America/A giant show and tease.”
From ‘Instamerica’ by Weird Wolves
“Instamerica” is a Euro-flavored synth anthem with a lovely vocal from Gore commenting on the desires created by social media, about discontentment, and the promises of the New World. A minimalist coda that dazzles with strange vocal modulations from Gore closes the track.
“Shiny” is somewhat glammy electro tune with psychedelic guitars, featuring a beautifully distorted guitar sound unlike any other heard before. “Snake Soul” borrows from the Eden narrative to tell a larger transformation narrative. Then there’s an alternate mix of “The Wound That Keeps On Giving” that accentuates the disco elements.
The final track “Invisible” begins with a sound very much like mid 80s Depeche Mode then progresses to weird electronic pop with several stylistic changes and a wildly innovative, psychedelic electric guitar solo. There’s also a delightful 1960s feel to Gore’s performance that echoes Grace Slick’s work on the great, self-titled debut by Jefferson Airplane.
Throughout the album there’s a commitment to experimental production showing great care, resulting in a new sound worthy of the solid songwriting. Colantonio and Gore have balanced a wide range of influences and elements to create an album that’s energetic and unique.
In recent weeks, Colantonio has announced that Gore is leaving the Weird Wolves. In June, Weird Wolves released the danceable single “Troubled Seamless Operation” with vocals by a new member, Celistina Gravely, signaling a continuation of the Weird Wolves brand of stylish, exotic synthpop.
In 2019, Colantonio founded WolfEye Studios to create Weird West and other video games.
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2021 Q and A With Weird Wolves on Punk Rock Beat dot com
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