While the walls came down
You waltzed around goodbyes
In the puddle of tears
Dancing like a harlot’s kite
Silver Tears is a name that flickers with contradiction—metallic and fluid, sharp and smudged, unflinching and undone. A fitting moniker for the collaborative venture between Berlin-based baron of brooding beats Luca Venezia (Curses) and the ever-enigmatic Damian Shilman (Skelesys). The duo emerged on the 2023 Next Wave Acid Punx Deux compilation with a single track that slithered with deep basslines, skeletal guitar strokes, and the crack of drum-machine discipline. But that was just the first glint of the blade.
Now, after two years of careful corrosion, Silver Tears unveil their first full-length album—and with it, the single and video for “No Retribution.” It’s a track that glows like an ember in the ruins: haunted, hungry, and half-lit by regret.
“No Retribution” unfolds as a baritone-laden tease of poetic menace, swaying between tenderness and twisted wit. Venezia struts through the track with charismatic swagger—imagine John Foxx after Ultravoxx, nursing heartbreak and a hangover. Shilman, meanwhile, lays down a gothic-tinged 80s rock groove that feels both timeless and venomous. Sexy, cinematic, and chill-inducing— the song is a seductive slow-burn that aches like an after-hours prayer to a wishful sinner; a lost soul possibly beyond saving.
Directed by Last Veil and shot in Berlin’s beloved Urban Spree—the citadel of the city’s underground music scene—the accompanying video flickers in high ISO grit. Silver Tears slink through shadows and strobes. Cinematographer Mike Sacchetti bathes the scene in noir gauze, while the edit (helmed by Venezia himself) slices between intimacy and abstraction. The result is something sensual, spectral, and searing.
Watch the video for “No Retribution” below:
Silver Tears’ debut full-length offers eight tracks that shimmer with lacquered melancholy and pulse-driven muscle—elegant electronic coldwave shaded with gothic rock drama. There are sharp arpeggios and slower, seductive passages, but always with a sense of propulsion—like dancing in place while the floor sinks beneath you. At times, the two trade vocals like bitter lovers passing blame. It’s a record steeped in contrasts: restraint and excess, collapse and elegance, romance and rot. Proof that the gothic subculture doesn’t just endure—it evolves, elegantly and eerily.
Silver Tears’ self-titled debut album is available on deep purple vinyl, digipak CD, and digital streaming services. Order from Avant! Records here.
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