Artist: Scenius
Title: Funny Sky
Genre: Electronic / Post Punk / Synth-Pop / Darkwave
Release Date: 11th April 2025
Label: Self-released
Single Review
It’s been a while since Leeds based duo SCENIUS have released a single, I think to myself. And as if by magic my thoughts conjure up a response from the gods and a new track appears in my inbox. For those of you who are not familiar with SCENIUS or haven’t read my previous reviews here’s a brief biography: They are a Leeds based duo consisting of Steve Whitfield from the band KALMMER and producer of THE CURE, THE MISSION and YANN TIERSEN and French vocalist / guitarist Fabrice Nau who has also been in groups such as BOUTIQUE DU TAO, KYU and THE DRIFT. The band have been in existence since 2020 and to date have released 15 records starting with ‘Glass Rain’ in April 2020, ‘Live In Angers’ in May 2022 followed around a year later by the single ‘Chinese Room’ which is off the later released album ‘Life Is A Thing’. 2024 saw the release of their version of ‘I Want More’ originally released by German experimentalists CAN followed by the nonchalant sprinkles of ‘Breezing Through It’. And here we are, up to date with a single that is one of four to be released this spring and before SCENIUS’s new album called ‘13 Billion Dark Years’ is birthed this Autumn, lets dive in and see what the new single is all about...
It starts with a HUMAN LEAGUE like flutter and morphs into a “come one, come on!!” urgency in the drum beat but the flutter remains to give a feel of excited anticipatory dread. There’s a vibe of someone dancing with abandoned joy as they are approached by a tornado, the sky is black and the suns orange glow has difficulty piercing through thick black icy clouds. The bass acts like a warm rubbery hand coaxing one into wild gyratory abandon. The lyrics I interpret as “I am taken by you but I’ve not looked into my own motives or desires so I have led you on, but now I have but it’s too late cos I’ve led you on and left a mess but I’ve moved on, you haven’t and now I await the shit storm that is coming whether I like it or not, what can I do but just go with the flow, hey ho...” Or maybe not! Once the syncopated beat starts though and melds with the syncopated drum beat it seems to ramp up the anticipatory dread in my view. Towards the end there’s an interesting effect that feels like torsion that dances with an airy synth line. That sounds familiar! Ah, the first track on ‘Black Star’. Just fleeting but enough for me to recognise.
This track is only three minutes and four seconds long, I’ve listened to it, what 20 times now, like an onion if you peel it with a sharp knife, it reveals more layers. So, if I now not listen for a day or so when I come back to it the track will seem thicker and the intermediate layers will just reveal themselves like they are familiar with me and don’t need coaxing.
Tracklist
01. Funny Sky
Line-up
Fabrice Nau – Vocals
Steve Whitfield – Keyboards / Programs / Production
Website
https://www.facebook.com/sceniusband/
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 8 / 10
