California-based duo
Them Are Us Too produced an utterly bewitching update of '80s darkwave, with airy guitars and harsh drum machines underpinning
Kennedy Ashlyn's soaring, near-operatic vocals. Tragically, guitarist
Cash Askew was one of three dozen casualties of the fire that destroyed the Ghost Ship warehouse in Oakland at the end of 2016.
Ashlyn continued making music under the name
SRSQ, and her debut,
Unreality, was released shortly after
TAUT's posthumous second album in 2018. Produced by
Inhalt's
Matia Simovich, the album continues in a similar direction as
TAUT, but with an added level of poignancy. Instead of being excessively gloomy or cathartic, however, the songs are actually quite uplifting, celebrating the bond between
Ashlyn and her departed friend. This is most evident in songs like the sparkling "Mixed Tide," which exclaims "Let's dance at the disco" without being backed by an on-the-nose dance beat, or the epic finale, "Only One," where
Ashlyn confesses "It crushes me every day" during the spoken bridge. She sounds utterly grateful to have known her fallen comrade on tunes like "Cherish," which sounds like late-era
Cocteau Twins with a heavier beat and fizzier, more gliding textures. Throughout the album,
Ashlyn's astounding voice delivers heartfelt laments and dark poetry over an ever-fluttering backdrop of synth balladry (and techno beats on "Permission").
Unreality is an immensely beautiful, affecting record. ~ Paul Simpson