Are you too scared to breathe
Is your voice trembling?
Portland’s one-man gloom engine, Richie Filth, bolts from the shadows with his urgent new single, “Don’t Look Back.” Conceived in a subterranean studio beneath his home, the track—entirely written, produced, and mixed by Filth himself—expertly blends the spectral atmospherics of 80s Darkwave with the serrated guitars of classic Post-Punk, all infused with the melancholic romanticism of French Coldwave. The result is a rush of melody and tension, driven by guitar hooks that echo the propulsive, windswept charm of second-wave gothic rock.
“Don’t Look Back” is a driving, minor-key exorcism: Linn hi-hats crackle insistently over a prowling, restless bassline, while icy chorused guitars slice through washes of analog gloom. Filth’s haunting vocal emerges, murmuring anxieties of paralysis and breathless terror before urging flight—a whispered promise to outrun the encroaching darkness. Surreal imagery seeps through every verse, conjuring ghosts clawing closer under the cover of darkness and the suffocating collapse of hometown despair, closing tight as a coffin lid. The refrain, an insistent invocation to abandon the past, builds with relentless intensity, its urgency escalating into a mantra of defiance as the song hurtles headlong towards cathartic escape.
“Don’t Look Back” explores the idea of escape. Sometimes escape is avoidance—a refusal to face the unbearable—but escape can also be an act of defiance. According to Filth, the track is about “the moment we recognize that survival means severing ties with what hurts us—whether it’s a place, a person, an idea, or even a past we’ve outgrown.” He adds that the song “captures that threshold, the terrifying moment just before we choose to run,” emphasizing that it “reminds us that letting go isn’t a weakness—it’s often the boldest move we make. And while the past may howl behind us, there’s something sacred in refusing to turn around.”
“Don’t Look Back” is out now. Stream or purchase the track here.
Richie Filth is the solo vision of a Los Angeles transplant who has spent the past decade haunting Portland’s underground music scene. Rooted deeply in the fertile crossroads of early Goth and French Coldwave, Filth cites the minimalist, melodic bass stylings of Siouxsie and the Banshees’ Steven Severin—his primary musical and aesthetic inspiration—as pivotal in shaping his creative approach. Further influenced by seminal French Coldwave acts such as Trisomie 21, Asylum Party, Little Nemo, Mary Goes Round, and KaS Product, Richie Filth meticulously blends ethereal melancholy with driving rhythms and emotional rawness.
Entirely self-contained, he writes, performs, records, and produces every element of his songs in his subterranean studio, crafting tracks that explore themes of grief, loss, desire, and the darker complexities of intimacy. Singles like “Abigail” evoke haunted romanticism, while the emotionally charged “Shallow Grave” and “Drown” delve into personal turmoil with stark vulnerability. Meanwhile, the wry, club-inflected “Sex Toy” showcases his playful exploration of kink and objectification with tongue firmly in cheek.
Richie Filth’s minimalist yet intense live performances channel the sonic spirit of early Post-Punk and Goth, with tightly sequenced synth basslines underpinning glistening guitars and haunting melodies, assisted live by guitarist Alexander Hope. His growing presence culminated recently with a coveted slot at SINTH Fest 2025, further cementing his role as a rising force in the Pacific Northwest’s Post-Punk and Darkwave circles. With his upcoming full-length debut, Fleshbound, set to release this autumn, Richie Filth intends to push genre boundaries further, incorporating experimental elements from Industrial and Noise music, while staying true to the danceable, melancholic ethos at the heart of his artistry.
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