Xennon - Dark Of A Distant World

I loved this so much I ended up buying both the cassette and vinyl versions to help support an up and coming artist. An absolute joy from start to finish, uplifting, emotional and infectiously brilliant.

So look, In an effort to be transparent and honest I will say that I have known Xennon for quite some time and grew up listening and supporting many of his earlier music projects. I considered not putting this album up for that reason, but I honestly think it’s criminal not to share this with you, and to be honest, had I heard this without knowing the artist I would still be equally as jealous of the craftsmanship and songwriting on display here.

What I love most about this album is the melody writing, and I don’t just mean the vocal melodies, they’re everywhere, synth lines, bass riffs, counter melodies and every one of them is infuriatingly memorable. This is a style of music that would have typically not been on my radar (because where are the guitars?) but man am I glad I gave it a chance. I reckon this has to be my most played vinyl that I own, you can hear influences of prog-esc Rush and smatterings of pop punk blended with funky-ass synths.

My recommendation (as always) is to listen to the whole album, you won’t regret it. However, if you can only find the time for a few songs then listen to; Roboknight Theme, Kaiju Rush Attack, and Nana’s song (for the feels). If you still aren’t convinced, check out some of his many other releases, Xennon is a prolific songwriter, I have no idea how he delivers such volume on projects of this quality. (makes you sick doesn’t it!)