SECRET CAMERAS - Silent Words

Ten years have now passed since the start of the adventure of Yitamar Starets's Secret Cameras, and yet the lineup and its sound keep changing, responsive to a time that reshapes scenarios and invents new ghosts. There's only one rule the London band seems unwilling to break: their iron-clad refusal to give in to the temptation of an LP, preferring shorter releases better suited to today's distribution models.

The Secret Cameras' 2026, then, begins with "Silent Words", an EP that presents them as a duo, with Jgor Ognibeni alone now accompanying Starets's guitars, keyboards and voice with his percussion, both electronic and acoustic.

The reduction from quartet to duo is also a reaction to new circumstances. Secret Camera's music has never been as dark as it is on "Silent Words". The transition from an indie sound to post-punk is thus complete, and, as Starets notes in the press release, the duo is one of the quintessential standard-bearers of darkwave. Being just the two of them, the surviving Secret Cameras go on to say, also streamlines the production process, making it easier to answer the urgency that has always set their songs apart.

The reduction in members hasn't diminished the grain of the sound, though - if anything, right from opener "Together Till The End", it sounds bigger than ever, reaching for the big sound of acts like Echo And The Bunnymen and White Lies. Telluric beats, then, epic keyboard arabesques and a full, gripping chorus.

Even though Starets' voice sounds more processed than in the past, more hidden among effects and dense keyboard layers, the choruses of "No More" and "Under Attack" are clear and engaging. It closes with the jittery "Back Against The Wall", whose guitar underpinning makes it the track most tied to the Cameras' past on the record.

Just four songs, but ones that don't go unnoticed. Given a few slightly unpolished moments, there's a sense that Secret Cameras' transition to a duo hasn't yet reached its full potential. Still, it's a feeling that can only be the prelude to even more powerful, incisive tracks.

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12/02/2026