Singer Madeline Priest and producer Dave Kazyk make up Florida duo X priest X, a synth-pop band with sound comparisons to Chvrches delving deeper into 80s pastiche. They’ve been around for a while, just over a year, indeed our own Sertone did a remix for them, and their debut EP Samurai is a fine opening statement in four tracks.
De facto throughout the release is a reliance on vintage synths and drum machines, so far, so zeitgeisty, but it’s Priest’s vocals which stay with you after the 16 minute running time. Even when singing about a ‘Samurai’ on the first track but most notably, on the naunced ‘Isn’t It So’, the suspended synth ballad ‘Sophie K’. A fine intro to the Florida band’s synth pop style.
The EP is out on Swedish label Emotion and videos and a debut album is forthcoming.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
Discovered Samurai on a Saturday, by the following Tuesday I must
have listened to it 50 times. The verse is good, the chorus is
practically an addiction.