The last /Tracks of the Month of 2024 brings various new songs and a bit of a catch-up from the past couple of months, to ensure I’ve covered as much as possible before /Countdown begins the end of year roundup in December.
/Subject /Tracks of the Month
/Playlists 
/Spotify / 
/YouTube
/Related /567/Tracks/Sep-24 /Tuesday Ten/Index
/Details /Tracks this week/10 /Tracks on Spotify Playlist/9 /Duration/37:56
As is often the way, I’m going to be running this year’s lists down to the wire. I broadly know what’s in the list, I’ve just got to finish writing it… Anyway, in the meantime, here’s the ten best tracks of the past month or so.
A quick explanation for new readers (hi there!): my Tuesday Ten series has been running since March 2007, and each month features at least ten new songs you should hear – and in between those monthly posts, I feature songs on a variety of subjects, with some of the songs featured coming from suggestion threads on Facebook.
Feel free to get involved with these – the more the merrier, and the breadth of suggestions that I get continues to astound me. Otherwise, as usual, if you’ve got something you want me to hear, something I should be writing about, or even a gig I should be attending, e-mail me or drop me a line on Facebook (details below).
/Track of the Month
/Will Haven
/KIRE
/No Stars To Guide Me: 30 Years of WHVN
Rather than an expansive retrospective, Will Haven are marking their thirtieth anniversary with a concise collection, picking just one song per album as well as one new track. Broadly it’s difficult to disagree with their selections, although certain albums there would have no doubt been some robust discussion of what to include. The new track – released in advance – is proof that the fire hasn’t gone out creatively yet. As is the case with so many of the bands best songs, it blasts through the speakers from the first second, and only takes a breath later on, with a surprisingly melodic chorus. Otherwise, this is Will Haven at their best, a crushing metallic power coupled with a vicious, overbearing intensity.
/The Foreign Resort
/Southern Skies
A striking new single from Danish goth/post-punkers The Foreign Resort sees them shed most of the synths that have been a core part of their sound for some time, instead relying on guitars and bass to fill the void, and it’s an impressive sidestep. A driving rhythm pulls forward this tale of metaphorical escape, to the road and on tour – and presumably away from the drudgery of everyday life – and this song is infectious enough, particularly the fantastic, yearning chorus, to entice me to down tools and join them.
/Hallowed Hearts
/Mirrors
/Masquerade
Talking of musical escapism, the relatively new duo Hallowed Hearts (featuring Andrew Sega of IRIS) continued their exploration of their goth rock influences this autumn, with the release of their second album. Alex Virlios is on fine form on this track in particular, his plaintive vocals at just the right level as he spins a tale of loneliness and despair (a Goth tale as old as time, of course), while Andrew Sega even muscles in an impressive guitar solo as this track rolls past, in a fog of dry ice and pastel lighting. It might be a love-letter to sounds past, but they make an excellent job of it sounding very “now”.
/High Parasite
/Wasn’t Human
/Forever We Burn
Calling their sound “Death Pop” is perhaps a bit of a stretch, but this project – involving Aaron Stainthorpe of My Dying Bride, produced by Gregor Mackintosh of Paradise Lost and involving more people in that orbit – is certainly a familiar sound to fans of both parent bands. The issues within MDB of late have been well documented, and perhaps this project is giving Stainthorpe a bit of space away from it. Basically, if you’ve ever wanted to hear what would happen if he fronted the more melodic end of Paradise Lost, here’s your chance. It is an enjoyable listen, with some great songs, in particular this one, with a glorious chorus and a distinct feel of a encounter with someone who is beyond comprehension.
/Benefits
/Land of the Tyrants (feat. Zera Tønin)
The scorched-earth noise and furious spoken-word vocals from Kingsley Hall and his “issues-based-collective” Benefits have raised a number of eyebrows in recent years, particularly as the album Nails was outstanding. Clearly, though, Hall has decided it is time to move on a bit, and Land of the Tyrants sounds drastically different. Gone is the punk-edged violence of the previous sound, replaced by sleek techno beats that perhaps intrude less on Hall’s vocals, and that works well here, as Hall has lots to say. Seething at regional stereotypes, centralised Government and the rich making even more fortunes while others starve, it is still impressive hearing an artist entirely unwilling to moderate their output and politics for wider consumption – especially with what has happened in the world in the past few weeks. These words need saying, and few are saying it more eloquently than Benefits.
/Normal Bias
/Kingdom Come
/Kingdom Come
A relatively recent new pairing brings Matt Weiner (TWINS) and Chris Campion (Multiple Man) together, and there are elements of both of their work on show here. Most notably, the acid-inflected, after-dark EBM that is the hallmark of Campion’s previous work is on show here, but in a more languid form, as if here they are no so interested in club hits. The title track slows the beats down, with Matt Weiner’s whispered and hissed vocals harking back to an obvious influence – the industrial funk phase of the Cabs – and like the rest of the album, it’s a fascinating concoction.
/KAPUT
/High Wire
Nadia Garofalo has flitted through a few projects since leaving Ganser, and the latest is a No-Wave project with Brian Fox (Electrical Audio). The first song from this new project is a dark, alt-rock roll through some bleak imagery, with the idea of a high-wire act giving credence to striking out and taking musical and visual risks, and this song definitely does that. Garofolo’s unmistakable, laconic vocals drive the track to a striking, noisy climax, and the video sees her literally covered in fake blood and enduring a lot more besides – talk about a high wire act.
/The Scarlet Hour
/Pursuit
/Pursuit EP
The North Eastern-based duo of Tim Synistr and Mel Butler are an interesting proposition. While on the surface it is bass-led darkwave with Tim’s brooding vocals, there is rather more going on here, with influences coming in from industrial electronics as much as it is from eighties Goth. The title track is a case in point, with pulses of synths creating a very different atmosphere underneath that bassline. A reminder that Goth and Industrial sounds aren’t a million miles apart, that’s for sure…
/Interface
/(Living In The) 21st Century
/Zero Sum Equation
New Yorkers Interface return with their seventh album, and the mood is glum – written of course some time ago, there’s very much a feel of a band foreshadowing the darkness that has descended in the past week like a shroud. This group have always been ones for melody and hooks amid their dancefloor-bound industrial – you know, like futurepop used to be – and while this song, the first on the new album, has a big chorus, there seems to be a downbeat delivery, one where they can’t bring themselves to provide those monster hooks this time around. And, perhaps, that’s about right – this is no time for celebration, and Interface, to these ears, have captured the mood, a dark time where we have to speak out and make feelings known.
/Kælan Mikla
/Stjörnuljós
It appears a new phase is beginning for Kælan Mikla. New single Stjörnuljós – as yet unattached to any album, although I’d be surprised if we don’t hear more about that in 2025 – sees the trio dropping back into what I can only describe as ethereal trip-hop. It’s a gorgeous, laid-back piece, equal parts dreamy and nightmarish, with their trademark Icelandic vocals floating atop shuffling beats and hints of synths in the fog. It sounds quite unlike any of their peers, and bodes well for whatever comes next.