TR/ST

We've been hearing a lot more noise from LA by way of Canada darkwave synth pop artist TR/ST than we usually do over the last few months, it was making me wonder if a new album might imminent.  And it is!  New album "Performance" is due in September.  Pre-order it here from Dais Records and listen to new single "All at Once" below.

Daily Jam - Heaven

Man I’m getting old. I notice it in every single white hair invading my head and beard space. I feel it in every popping joint at night as I carry a sleeping toddler up the stairs. And I sense it at every concert or festival I go to, content to hang in the back (maybe even with a chair!) as youthful bodies kick and sway up ahead, their eyes glossing over me, a boring and crumbling wallflower. Pay no attention to the old fart drinking beer in the back. He’s just here to listen.

And listen I do. Honestly, it’s another thing that’s making me feel my age, seeing and hearing all the different genres of music becoming popular and gaining prominence to then fall by the wayside, relics of sound from another era, to then be revived and re-lauded only to lose favor again before bubbling back up to the surface yet again to the delight and listening pleasure of the masses. Nothing ever dies. Nothing ever goes away. It all just rests for a while. I couldn’t begin to tell you how many hot takes I’ve read over the last 20 years declaring rock n’ roll to be dead only for some scene of likeminded artists to suddenly make it cool again.

This is normal. This is where we are. This is okay. Everything will be cool again one day, just give it some time.

But I certainly do feel my years when attending these shows, these umpteenth revivals of audio. It’s been going on for years, even before my facial hair gave my age away. Way back in 2012 at a SXSW day party in Austin, I was fortunate enough to catch one of my “must-see” acts that year, then riding a synth wave revival of sorts, the gloomy, Canadian synth pop group Trust (aka TR/ST). Gothy synth tones and techno beats have long been in my wheelhouse of sound, and I’m always happy when they’re back in vogue, so catching the artist was a no-brainer for me. And they were great (I caught them two more times that week), their TRST album from that year is still one of my favorites, and we got an excellent memento from the gig, a hilarious picture of Trust’s Robert Alfons looking absolutely zoned and bewildered in between my smiling wife and friend.

Who are these old people? Why are they taking pictures with me?

Alfons was actually a very professional and nice guy. He seemed flattered by the attention, and he didn’t really comment on our age. But he didn’t have to. His facial expression said everything.

Anyway, I don’t know what the point of that story was. I’m old. Here’s Trust’s 2012 synth jam “Heaven.” Enjoy.

TR/ST

Here's some new electro-pop from LA-based artist TR/ST.  Dig on the airy synths of "Soon" below and download it here from Dais Records.

TR/ST

It appears 2024 is going to bring us new dark synths and moody dance beats from LA-based Canadian artist TR/ST.  Our first taste of new material is new tune "Robrash."  Check it out below and download it here from Dais Records.

TR/ST - RAZR

I somehow missed that TR/ST dropped a new track a couple of months back for the soundtrack to something called "Impact Winter."  It's an "audible original," whatever that might mean.  Anyhoo, the soundtrack also features tracks from Lost Under Heaven and Cults covering The Walker Brothers.  You can pre-order the vinyl here from Skybound.  In the meantime, listen to "RAZR" below.

TR/ST

With the relative brevity of last April's "Destroyer - 1" LP from darkwave synth pop artist TR/ST (nee Trust), i figured it was just a matter of time before we got even more new jams from the man.  And that brings us this Fall's "Destroyer - 2."  Check out the moody "Iris" below, and pre-order the album here from House Arrest Distribution.

TR/ST

It's been five years since we last had a release from moody Toronto synth pop artist TR/ST (formerly spelled as Trust), and April finally brings us "The Destroyer - 1" on House Arrest Distribution.  Hopefully that means he'll be back in Austin in March for SXSW so my wife and my friend can scare him again.  Anyway, listen to "Gone" below and pre-order the record here.

TR/ST - Destroyer

Word on the street is we're getting some new music from TR/ST (formerly Trust) this year, and that makes me happy as a moody clam.  Gothy synth pop for everyone!  Anyway, watch the video for "Destroyer" below, and i'll keep you abreast of new album news as it develops.

Austra remixed by Jana Hunter

Canadian artist Austra has been creating wonderful synth pop for a few years (most notably for me at least as a former member of Trust), and her new album "Future Politics" is due later this month on Domino.  In the meantime, Jana Hunter of Lower Dens remixed the album track "Utopia."  It's quite nice.  Listen below.

New Trust

One of the surprises of 2012 (and probably my favorite record of that year to boot) was Trust's "TRST," a beeping, booping, moody, electro-goth album that hit Depeche Mode in all the right places.  New album "Joyland" is due March 4th on Arts & Crafts, but you can listen to first single "Rescue, Mister" below.