Ekko The Strange taps into ‘Mystique’

“Mystique,” by Ekko The Strange The target demographic for Ekko The Strange’s “Mystique” is those who like to groove with horrorfilm soundtracks, whether that means dancing or driving or just hanging out.

Beyond that, Ekko aims at fans of various subgenres of electronic music

– be that something as mainstream-adjacent as classic techno and Goth or something a bit deeper and more elusive, like darkwave and synthwave.

And then the Idaho-native, Polandbased Ekko goes a step further with highly dramatic, otherworldly vocals – generally conjured in the background as if a reluctant and angry soul had been hijacked and stirred into the mix. Those vocals (more rasped and whispered than sung) are mostly used as a supportive nuance to add an ominous air to the propelling tracks, though some will find them too cheesy.

Otherwise, “Mystique” weaves its magic, a Halloween-friendly soundtrack built on propulsive insistence and also an unorthodox outlier to conventional 2022 dance music. It’s quaintly retro, but not really anachronistic, as it dredges up the industrial-dance spirits of the likes of 1980s-born acts like Nitzer Ebb and Front 242.

“Vamps” is an unholy alliance of dissonance and darkness, naturally irresistible rhythms filtered through unnatural processing and effects reminiscent of old sci-fi flicks and alternate-reality radio transmissions. Likewise, menace and allure are married to a heartbeat-like pulse in “Exotic,” “Reanimate” is a journey in metamorphosis, and the chaotic nightmarescape “Gleboki” (named for a Polish village) seems to beckon for escape.

Sure, this excursion into a foreboding realm comes with a passenger – those histrionic vocals that are about as welcome as a bratty kid brother in the back seat on a cross-country trip. Yet they eventually meld into the scenery and become easy to ignore.