With their shadowy, majestic sound replete with ghostly vocals, atmospheric guitars, and ice-chilled synths, Lycia has become one of the most seminal and revered bands in the darkwave genre. They’re certainly one of the most long-lived: they released their first album, Wake, in 1989. Jump ahead nearly three decades, and the band has returned with In Flickers.
Not only does the new album find Lycia returning to the Projekt label, which released all of their early albums (e.g., 1993’s A Day in the Stark Corner, 1996’s Cold), but In Flickers features all of the members from the band’s various incarnations: Mike VanPortfleet, Tara Vanflower, David Galas, and John Fair.
The album, which Projekt (in their usual ornate manner) describes as “intriguing meditations on forgotten paths, corrupted hopes, and faint memories of beauty,” will be released on Bandcamp on October 26, and will appear in iTunes, Spotify, etc., on November 9.
Listen to the title track below. It features all of the aforementioned aspects that has made Lycia’s music so captivating for so long. But there are some intriguing dynamics — the manner in which Tara Vanflower’s vocals hover around the song’s edges, the graceful-yet-sinister bridge — that indicate that the band isn’t simply resting on 30 years’ worth of laurels. Interestingly, Lycia will be releasing three more song previews, each two weeks apart, beginning on September 21, to highlight the album’s variety.