In the long, winding tale of music’s chance meetings, Gino Mari (The Gentry) and GL3 (Hawks Do Not Share) found themselves bound by a shared love for The Cure. Back in 2002, they first came together in the Portland tribute band TheXplodingBoys; but it wasn’t until 2019, with a farewell show in sight, that they crossed paths again, leading to something more lasting. Out of that moment of reunion sprang Silicon Forest—a venture where the synthetic meets the organic, where nostalgia hums alongside the pulse of the new.
Their first single, Twilight of the Party Gods, feels like a slow unraveling, the kind of song where lethargy and longing dance in circles. The song’s protagonist wrestles with a nameless weight, a need to escape, only to find fleeting solace in the haze of a party’s dying light. It’s a bittersweet anthem for the disillusioned, reflecting on how connection, however brief, can feel hollow when it always ends in solitude. Echoes of New Order, The Radio Dept., and the Lightning Seeds whisper through the track, balancing the shimmering synths with a deeper, darker current of resignation and retreat.
Justin J. Lowe, fresh from dabbling in AI-driven visuals for The Dandy Warhols, turned his focus toward something more raw, more real for Silicon Forest. His vision was tactile, something you could almost touch. Initially, the idea was to shoot on 16mm film—until a second thought struck, something more fitting for today’s instant world: “There’s probably an app for that.” And so, with an iPhone Pro in hand, Lowe roamed the streets of Portland, capturing it all, a clever emulation of Kodak’s nostalgic grain. The result feels immediate, handheld, a moment caught before it slips away.
Watch the video for “Twilight of the Party Gods” below:
Currently, the duo is putting the finishing touches on their debut LP while also performing live dates around Portland, OR with The Gentry and Hawks Do Not Share.
You can listen to Twilight of the Party Gods below and order here.
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