The static sets in
Success is communicate
We’re static or worse
So here we are, alone
James Hofer, the enigmatic mind behind Viva Non, pivots from his recent forays into industrial techno toward a more romantic reverie with the latest single and video, With Love. Draped elegantly in synthpop and dreampop textures, Viva Non seamlessly ventures into gossamer post-punk territory, invoking echoes of contemporaries Johnny Dynamite and the neon-hued allure of Korine, yet enveloped in a more ethereal phantasmagoria.
With Love is understated elegance set to music, keyboards suspended mid-air like frost-bound whispers. Drum patterns jitter delicately, hesitantly retracing their steps across well-worn emotional terrain. The song resists traditional focus; rather, it’s enveloped in the subtle murmurings of machinery, each synthetic tone a prayer whispered softly into silence. Viva Non’s return to romantic sensibilities is both refined and poignant, offering solace in solitude and affirming the quiet persistence of human connection. This is music for the late-night wanderers, those seeking meaning in moments of quiet isolation.
Hofer’s voice retreats into shadow, permitting the electronic pulses to articulate the emotion: ethereal, simmering, and reserved. The track is a spectral broadcast, a transient transmission drifting quietly above deserted streets at midnight, a broadcast designed more for reflection than revelry.
The lyrics embrace isolation and struggle, yet insist gently that dialogue can dissipate the static. There’s a hopeful undertow here, reassuring the listener of life’s inherent worth and the quiet resilience of love, even amidst existential detachment.
“This was my first attempt at a pop song in a very long time,” says Hofer. “I needed to write something sad – because I was sad, haha. The premise of the song is the finding of peace in sadness, not trying to do away with it but living in it and finding ‘I can still breathe, I’m fine’.”
The video, filmed by Jensen Maxwell, is a gentle meditation on these moments, taking us through vignettes in nature interspersed with a performance from Hofer.
Watch the video for “With Love” below:
Listen to With Love below and order the single here.
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