Melbourne-based artist Ben DeHoedt has announced his new album City Lights Shimmer will be released on Bandcamp on December 10th and today we’re very pleased to be able to premiere the video clip for the first single ‘This Call May Be Recorded‘.
The song is a lush, neon-lit, hyper sleek sound of dark and futuristic electronic avant pop. There are post-punk themes & sonic undercurrents that run through the beautifully produced track, built on Ben’s vocal incantations, detailed rhythms and cinematic synths. ‘The agency is calling!’ sings Ben commandingly before a cyberpunk guitar squall enters the fray, over the digitally shuddering percussion. It’s heady, hypnotic and compelling stuff that brings to mind Cabaret Voltaire, Bladerunner, Bjork and more.
Inspired by classic undercover police dramas from Miami Vice to Deep Cover, Ben explains that “these songs are cinematic in their atmosphere and scope. Themes of paranoia, duality and dissonance are central to the album and inform the soundscapes beneath the lyrics. These are songs which exist in a certain world with a distinct mood.” Ben recorded and produced the album in his home studio through 2020-22.
Ben deHoedt is an Australian musician and documentary film maker. He writes and releases music under his own name and with his band The American Public. Ben is also making Disappear Here, a documentary about Australian rock group Glide and the Australian independent music scene of the 1990’s.
Doubtful Sounds 