Creep Show

Yawning Abyss – Bella Union

Darkwave electronica with 80s goth vibes blanket this new album from Creep Show, Yawning Abyss. The trippy and fragmented sounds produced by Phil Winter and Ben “Benge” Edwards (Wrangler) provide the synth-pop rhythm for John Grant and Stephen Mallinder’s (Cabaret Voltaire) electronically tuned voices. This is a follow up to their 2018 debut, Mr. Dynamite, and it allows them to progress the sardonic humor and broad strokes of introspection that spread across the cinematic cavalcade of this quirky record.

John Grant’s voice focuses on manifesting deep-rooted emotions and witty banter that give Yawning Abyss diverse moods of paranoia, loneliness, and reflection on the soul. The title track (#3), “Yawning Abyss,” is a bouncy and funky tune that doesn’t veer much from the tempo but makes for a fun dance bop. Track 1, “Bellows,” is a dark industrial song that has shades of Front 242, with its constant bleeps and bloops and Grant’s drone filling in the gloom. “Bungalow,” is standard John Grant fare, his voice taking the reins of emotional highs and lows, in a classic crooner style. Track 8,” Steak Diane,” slinks with sly short synths that add to its schizophrenic pacing and cheeky samples.

Creep Show is a delightful listen overall and has the sort of underground sound that makes it electronic pop that can be late night fare or fine on a late Summer afternoon.

My favorites: 3**, 1**, 7**, 8**, 5*, and 6*.

– (h)earwitness