Kansas City’s Religion of Heartbreak unveils Dream Reflection, an EP that smolders in darkwave’s neon haze, steeped in electronic pulse and existential ache. Born from the restless minds behind Monta At Odds, this project carves through the cold circuitry of EBM, fusing nostalgia with a sharpened edge. Echoing the specters of Depeche Mode and The Soft Moon, Dream Reflection confronts obsession, the polished façades we present, and the fractured selves hidden beneath. It speaks to the quiet, aching solitude of modern life, yet finds solace in communion: on a crowded floor, lost in rhythm, bound together by the throb of sound.
Dream Reflection moves with the precision of a cold steel engine, a darkwave dirge stripped to its sinew. Five tracks pulse and flicker, channeling the raw mechanics of EBM and the ghost-lit shimmer of synth-pop. Every note is deliberate, each beat sharp as cut glass—no excess, no ornament, only the stark machinery of rhythm and the spectral afterglow of sound. It hums with electricity, a transmission from the void, beckoning lost souls onto the floor, where movement and music collide in an eerie, hypnotic trance.
Forget About You, originally a Monta At Odds number, slips into something darker, colder; a spectral reconstruction built for dimly lit dance floors and late-night drives to nowhere. The remix unravels the original, stripping it to its sinew and dressing it anew in brooding synth and mechanized rhythm. Shapiro’s voice, weightless yet restless, hovers over Nemeth’s echoing baritone guitar and Moore’s relentless drum programming, pulling tension tight as a wire. Desire turns dangerous, heartbreak becomes its own transformation, and the song hums with the eerie inevitability of obsession.
At the core of the EP, Dream Reflection flickers like static on a dying screen. Shapiro’s vocals drift cool and unshaken, a counterpoint to Moore’s sharp-edged synths and Nemeth’s glacial percussion. The track moves like a specter through circuits, whispering in electric tongues, circling around the weight of longing and the strange comfort of never letting go.
Dark Hour of Meditation drifts through the late-night haze, where old flames stir and memories resurface. Religion of Heartbreak trades psychedelic sprawl for a sharper, more inward gaze, letting darkwave take the lead. Shapiro and Moore’s voices hover over echoing guitars and cavernous synths, while Nemeth’s baritone guitar rumbles beneath mechanized beats and brooding bass. The track unfolds in a hypnotic rhythm, a slow-burning descent into longing and regret. It lingers like a whispered confession, a melody etched in midnight air, heavy with the weight of what was—and what still lingers in the dark corners of the mind.
The video concept for Dark Hour of Meditation was a playful nod to the 80’s bands where the artists were clearly miming to the song. In the dark hour of meditation where the “past comes back to life”, we enter the dreamlike state where memories and dreams collide. Images become surreal and fantastical making it a dangerous concoction to rewrite how our failed relationships were only the best of times. The video was directed by Regan Moore (Dualway): “I wanted to capture the essence of the song as if the viewer was looking through a spinning cosmic globe.”
Dream Reflection is available now. Listen below and order the album here.
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