Vases Merges Icy Synthpop With Deep Emotional Longing in his Stylish Video for “Contact”

I call into the void
is there anyone out there?

Yearning for human connection is a hunger as primal as it is painful, a desperate need to feel seen, understood, and mirrored in the eyes of another. Yet, when one feels like a monster—an outsider, burdened by an identity too strange or scarred—it becomes a weight too heavy to bear. The crushing doubt settles in, whispering that no one could possibly share the same fears, the same dark corners of the soul. There’s an ache that gnaws, the relentless question—am I truly alone? In that silence, it feels as though the world itself recoils. But it’s not the lack of connection that crushes; it’s the belief that perhaps there was never a chance at all. That fear, that monstrous self-perception, casts shadows over every fleeting attempt at closeness, deepening the isolation. The heart longs, but the mind builds walls, haunted by the thought that no one else could ever understand.

Contact, the lead single from Vases’ EP Pure Heat, delivers this theme with a cool, darkwave pulse, a moody reflection steeped in longing and isolation. Its sharp, electronic beats recall the slick precision of Heaven 17 and Blancmange, while the shimmering, shadowed undertones nod toward Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys. It’s a track wrapped in icy detachment, yet threaded with a sense of yearning.

The video, directed by James Messina and Ty Baron, takes inspiration from the eerie, flickering gloom of early Hollywood monster movies, blending it with the hard, anti-corporate cynicism of ’90s neo-noir. The result is a strange, unsettling fusion, like Man Ray wandered onto a David Fincher set. It’s a striking juxtaposition—artful shadows and sharp lines that hint at something sinister lurking just beneath the surface. The visuals reflect the song’s tension, echoing the themes of disconnection and isolation, where figures move in and out of focus, wrapped in layers of intrigue. There’s a chilling beauty in how the old cinematic style collides with the modern, each frame straddling the divide between vintage nostalgia and a more brutal, fractured present. The piece steps boldly into a space where art and anguish intermingle, creating a visual symphony that heightens the song’s emotional grip without ever tipping too far into the expected.

Watch the video for “Contact” below:

Under the cryptic moniker Vases, Los Angeles-based multi-disciplinary artist Ty Baron creates music that merges post-punk’s brooding intensity with the meticulous detail of fine art. His latest EP, crafted with the help of engineer Jake Supple (Cherry Glazerr, Girlpool, Blondeshell), is a carefully sculpted blend of darkwave, industrial, and shoegaze, showcasing Baron’s reverence for these genres as serious artistic forms. Each track feels like an exploration of alienation and yearning, with icy synths and textured noise drawing on influences from Kraftwerk to My Bloody Valentine. Baron’s work is not just music—it’s a fully realized aesthetic where sound becomes a vehicle for high-concept artistry.

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