Dystopian Melbourne synth artist breaks the Suburban Spell with Split Levels
Split Levels, the sophomore album release from Melbourne’s Suburban Spell, launches Monday 14 February 2022 via Bandcamp and all major digital / streaming music platforms. The album’s release is accompanied by the new video single, ‘We All Pray’: an atmospheric follow-up to the propulsive lead single ‘Control’, which premiered on Post-punk.com in December.
Suburban Spell alias Peter Endall, a veteran of Australia’s new wave / synthpop / post-punk scene since the 1980s, takes his new performance moniker from a line in the 1986 Pet Shop Boys hit single, ‘Suburbia’. Formerly keyboardist for popular eighties Melbourne band Schizo Scherzo, Suburban Spell represents Endall’s return to recording and producing music after many years’ hiatus.
Citing the influence of Jean-Michel Jarre, Ultravox, Kraftwerk, and New Order along with occasional post-punk and shoegaze guitar elements, Suburban Spell employs stark, dystopian minimalism to explore the darkness and frailty hidden behind the suburban ideal’s pristine veneer.
“It’s an exploration of the everyday, with all of its hidden layers peeled back,” Peter explains. “Themes of modern politics, domestic violence, human fragility, and quiet desperation speak to all our uncomfortable desires, quiet shames, and joyous revelations.”
These recurring themes are expanded on with the new album, Split Levels: a title referring to the popular Mid-Century design style for Split Level suburban homes. Drawn from Endall’s fascination with architecture, the new album treats the ‘Split Level’ aesthetic as analogous to the suburban dichotomy: the “split levels” of the perfect societal façade, vs. the fragile unease beneath it.
Split Levels is Suburban Spell’s second full-length album release, and drops this coming Monday, with presales available now. The new video single ‘We All Pray’ is scheduled to premiere from post-punk.com on the same day.
Watch the previous video for ‘Control’ on YouTube (new upload with remastered audio): here
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