Miami’s Astari Nite carves its own niche, fusing dark alternative sounds with ruminations on love, death, and the occult—an intoxicating mix of dread and delight. Their music slithers between the ethereal and the eerie, pushing at the edges of the genre with a sly, knowing hand. Over the years, they’ve shared stages with the likes of Peter Murphy, The Damned, Psychedelic Furs, Cold Cave, Vowws, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and Modern English, each show sharpening their mystique. Now, they return with another trick up their sleeve—a new video for Unisex Games, where glamour and gloom meet in equal measure.
Unisex Games is a warped waltz through fractured friendships and reckless love, where excess and abandon leave a trail of broken bonds. Nostalgia sours, memories twist, and the past feels more like a cruel joke than a cherished story. There’s bitterness in the laughter, regret in the revelry, a smirk masking something deeper. Guilt lingers, but it’s cheap; petty, fleeting, a whisper drowned in the noise of indulgence and distraction.
“Unisex Games was written as a sort of tongue-in-cheek to the max song, says lead singer Mychael. “I mean, relationships often find an invasive way of telling you how you’re going to spend your time whether you like it or not, right? So, make it worthwhile, have an imagination or get a hobby and try your luck at painting. For what it’s worth, anyone I’ve ever come across has helped define my unusual ways to this very day and for that, I will always be thankful.”
The video is a wild, winking spectacle…well, let’s call it for what it is: goofy as hell. They dance with full-blown Theatre Kid glee, evoking Judy Funny via the Velvet Underground. The band struts and stumbles in leather jackets and black turtlenecks, striking absurd poses, spinning in playful delirium, taking Very Important Phone Calls, flapping around a silk handkerchief, clutching each other in exaggerated embraces. It’s reckless, ridiculous, a grinning reprieve from the heaviness of the world. A moment of unguarded camaraderie, of shared laughter, of friends letting loose, reminding us that sometimes, silliness is the only thing worth taking seriously.
“The start of the year was a f**king horror story,” Mychael admits. “My therapist recommended doing something amusing, and so I did. My bandmates met me at my hotel, and we played pretend for an hour or two making the Unisex Games music video. There is a certain kind of magic that takes place when you can find comfort in the people you surround yourself with. Being obnoxiously silly comes naturally for the four of us. The happiness that is displayed in the video may help some people put a smile on their face for a moment during these chaotic times. This is why I chose to release the video a few weeks before the actual single that comes out.”
Great advice we all need right now.
Watch the video for Unisex Games below:
Unisex Games will be released on March 14th through Negative Gain North American distribution and Danse Macabre Records European digital distribution.
Their last LP, Resolution of Happiness, echoes the vibes of Clan of Xymox, Placebo, Franz Ferdinand, and the Psychedelic Furs, all while infusing their signature cinematic flair for the occult. It’s like Bowie’s later work soundtracking a vivid fever dream, whisking you away to an alternate reality where the eerie and the enchanting dance together under a moonlit sky.
Astari Nite have made appearances at Wave-Gotik-Treffen, Absolution Festival, A Murder of Crows, Out From the Shadows, Dark Side of the Con, and Gothic Dark Wave Festival in France.
Catch Astari Nite on tour:
-
Feb 22 New World Brewery Tampa, FL
- Apr 3 Launchpad, Albuquerque, NM
- Apr 4 Last Exit, Phoenix, AZ
- Apr 6 Whistle Stop, San Diego, CA
-
Apr 8 The Moroccan Lounge Los Angeles (LA), CA
- Apr 9 The Knockout, San Francisco, CA
-
May 10 Respectable Street West Palm Beach, FL
-
May 13 Siberia New Orleans, LA
- May 14 The End, Houston, TX
- May 15 Elysium, Austin, TX
-
May 16 The Gremlin McAllen, TX
-
May 17 Paper Tiger San Antonio, TX
Follow Astari Nite:
Or via: