Psylhouette Releases Meditative Lead Single, ‘Moonlight’
Meet Psylhouette: A duo consisting of Tristan (a producer from Brighton) and Juli Holz (a vocalist from Berlin).
The formidable pair just released their third album titled ‘Psylhouette III.’ The collection of songs has everything from hints of nu-wave, post, and even a peppering of krautrock inside its largely electronic dark-pop playground. But the cherry on top is their lead single from the album. It’s pulsing, meditative, dark, intriguing…and aptly titled ‘Moonlight.’
The leading light and sonic focus of this single are Juli’s vocals, which are simultaneously haunting and gentle.
As the song progresses, the guitars crescendo, and begin to lean into a post-rock sound. The drums keep the tune moving forward as the emotive vocal leaps impart an affecting rawness.
As a whole, Psylhouette lead single encaptures as one of nature’s most perplexing sights. As we listen, it is as if we are looking directly at the moonlight. It’s intimate to take in the sense of cosmic aloneness. The world is vast, and this realization isn’t without a twinge of melancholy. But finally, we rise to a key moment: “With a smile on my lips, I cheer to you”. This impactful line creates emotive ripples that spread throughout the landscape. We’re led into a soaring instrumental break…and finally, these last words seem to encompass everything.
The lingering stygian guitars, bleak and tenebrific, fade out until they almost sound like synths… it ends, and we’re left with the feeling of pure boundlessness.
“We all have to constantly align ourselves anew”
How has the character’s emotions changed from the beginning to the end of ‘Moonlight’?
Juli: The character goes through a transformation, from a state of fear into finding beauty.
From dancing with a tear in your eye to dancing with a smile on your face. ‘Moonlight’ is about the constant dance between high and low. About dancing in the dark with a positive outlook. About conquering your fears and managing them to reach a different fearless state of being. We all have to constantly align ourselves anew to not fall down, like a pilot who has to constantly regulate according to the winds.
I noticed that this lead track is very meditative. What kind of headspace were you guys in when you wrote it?
Juli: I was literally sitting in the moonlight at night at home recording the first drafts and sending a friend videos of me recording in candlelight. I like that phase in production where everything is still uncertain. The music made me feel very rock n roll, to me this track almost sounds like a metal ballad, and that was exactly the state I was in.
Track 3 ‘Temple’ on your new album feels so sonically different from ‘Moonlight.’ How do you cultivate genre-defying sounds and LPs like this, as a whole?
Juli: We have a variety of moods to offer and I think the music shows that beautifully. Never forget that your mood can change from one minute to the next even without a reason. But it’s nothing to frown upon, it helped me in my journey to accept that I can be sad on a happy event or suddenly feel like laughing even when the circumstances appear to be a hopeless situation. Although it displays different moods, the album makes total sense to me as a whole. Also we are in such a happy situation to be able to honour so many music genres. We have so much to choose from and do them justice in borrowing certain elements and weaving them into something new.
Do either of you play instruments, and if so, how did you come to play them?
Juli: I started with playing the piano and then discovered my love for synthesizers. Singing came after playing.
Tristan: My background is studio engineering, so I can present the illusion that I can sing, play guitar, bass and synths, but the drums are my main instrument. Typical route into it – tapping the desk at school then found the drum kit in the school music room.
How did you both meet?
Juli: We met through Bandcamp. Tristan bought one of my solo tracks and I sent him a thank you note. A couple of emails later we decided to collaborate. I loved his music instantly, it sounded very new to me.
Lastly: What do you feel when you look at the moon?
Juli: I feel longing and a strange kind of peace, a feeling like miracles could be happening. I get the same feeling when looking at candles, I’m a big sucker for candles in a glass. The last time I saw the moon was when I was walking through Tempelhofer Feld (a huge park that was a former airport) coming back from a beer garden. I took a nice photo of it and was just feeling great.
Tristan: Moonshake
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