Photo by Akiko Sampson
Oakland collaborative project Silent Figures beautifully weaves darkwave and synthpunk together as they explore themes of isolation and personal turmoil. Their hypnotic dance beats and hook-filled music explodes with counter-points of joy and hope, nodding to Martin Dupont, Crash Course In Science, Linea Aspera, and She Past Away as influences.
The project is the mastermind of DJ Davey Bones, bassist of The Ink Bats and founder of The Hanging Garden dance party and radio show. Now under the guise of Silent FIgures Davey and co. unleash a plaintive cover of the late, great Roky Erickson’s “Goodbye Sweet Dreams”.
“Silent Figures is a product of the pandemic. Like many of us, this disaster has made me re-assess who I am and who I want to be. I know I want to be a better and more prolific musician in order to make the biggest contribution to the music world as I can as well as make music with my friends so I decided to start this project. Our first song is a tribute to one of my heroes Roky Erickson. I’ve always loved this song and his music.”
The video for the song is a surreal romp between performance and woodland frolicking. The song was performed by Bones, Josie Dot, and Miss Kel, channeling John Foxx and Dare-era Human League.
Watch below:
You can preorder the single release of “Goodbye Sweet Dreams” here, which includes remixes by INHALT and Zac Campbell.
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