Vancouver’s Total Chroma announces the release of their fiery new single “Red State,” the first off their upcoming album L A P L A N D, slated for Spring 2023.
Total Chroma is the solo project of Robert Katerwol (Wire Spine, Weird Candle), firing off manic synths, space noises, and rapid-fire atmospheric soundscapes with Red State. This paranoid, eerie track about surveillance and oppression features the ethereal voice of Vancouver synth-pop icon Devours, who brings an emotional humanity to the thorny synthpunk sound.
The subject matter is timely for the threat of societal breakdown, where deviance from the status quo is deemed unacceptable. With Red State, Katerwol delves into the threat of safety in queer space; it is a powerful story wrapped in a deceptively dance-floor-friendly tune.
“The lyrics involve a gay relationship where the partner comes from a conservative community and feels too unsafe and closely monitored to indulge in their sexual fantasies,” explains Jeff Cancade of Devours.
Listen below:
Inspired by Italo disco, classic EBM, minimal wave, and post-punk, Katerwol as Total Chroma bridges his inspirations into “a genre-smashing cocktail of sweaty dance floor catharsis.” Since 2012, Katerwol has been actively producing, releasing, performing, and touring across North America, and the EU. Katerwol has shared stages with Lebanon Hanover, Perturbator, Carpenter Brut, She Past Away, Boy Harsher, Youth Code, Psyche, Schwefelgelb, Latitia Sadier, Severed Heads, Selofan, Pastel Ghost, Pure Ground, Nuovo Testamento, Kontavoid, Drab Majesty, Qual, High Functioning Flesh, Light Asylum, and more. When not producing music, or on the road, Katerwol keeps busy co-organizing the annual Verboden Music Festival in Vancouver B.C.
Listen to “Red State” via streaming here.
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