A SHRINE TO FAILURE - Undone

A Shrine To Failure: a name, a guarantee. Obviously, if you enjoy wallowing in the dark side of life. But also if you appreciate those dark atmospheres capable of skilfully blending gothic and synthesizers ("somewhere between pop, wave and emotional ruin", as they themselves put it).

"Undone", for now available only digitally, will also be released on physical formats by the end of summer, thanks to the interest of Cold Transmission, the German label operating out of Frankfurt am Main (coincidentally, the same city the duo hails from).

Fourteen tracks are no small number (and a track like "Defiler" certainly doesn't help matters), but it must be said that the album glides along with remarkable ease, right from the first notes. If "Black Room Memory" can count on a truly powerful refrain (the spirit of Siouxsie is lurking just around the corner), it's with the following "Bleakware" that A Shrine To Failure pour poetry and drama into their music, looking at the present through the memory of a past that's never truly gone.

Compared to the post-punk charge of some recently successful acts (we're thinking of the Turkish Ductape), the approach of this Teutonic duo leans towards a minimalism that's chilling at times: "Starving" and "This Is Surrender" sound as though they emerged from the coldest winter of the Eighties, as does the splendid "The Silence She Became". More synthesizers, more melancholy, another track to dance to all night long.

The ending doesn't betray expectations. "The Clock That Never Turns" will likely become the duo's signature track, live shows included. We'll find out the rest soon enough, as the name A Shrine To Failure starts to circulate insistently among the devoted, black-clad faithful. The gothic album for summer has arrived.

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15/07/2025