Turkish duo She Past Away combines a moody lyricism in the band’s native language with the stark lines of classic post-punk and the solitary chill of darkwave, updating the stylish gloom of Sisters of Mercy, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Depeche Mode and Paralysed Age.
Singer-guitarist Volkan Caner floats a deep, droning voice over hauntingly spare guitar work while partner Doruk Öztürkcan handles all the swirling synthesizers and dancing drum patterns. She Past Away’s most popular song on Spotify, “Durdu Dunya,” with 11.4 million streams, comes from a 2019 album, Disko Anksiyete, bearing a strong resemblance to early Depeche Mode.
Disko’s designated intro, “Bosluk,” lowers the listener into an ’80s futurist cyberspace speakeasy — one located under a graveyard. Farther along, “La Maldad” thrums with weird cinematic energy, like an eerie contribution to an imagined Ghostbusters soundtrack with Danny Elfman at the soundboard.
Further back, 2015’s Narin Yalnızlık has a bit more pent-up energy, as if the band was impatient to imprint itself on modern goth. A signature track, “Asimilasyon,” sounds like Caner and Öztürkcan in the throes of possession, with eerie chromatic guitar lines and a ghostly echo. The album also takes a step towards Crystal Castles’ second and third albums, with chirps, blips and drones on “İçe Kapaniş II” that feel like a convergence between Ethan Kath and Jonny Greenwood.
With new album Mizantrop, released in February, She Past Away hover closer to the somber glory of Disintegration by The Cure than the witch house of Crystal Castles. Opening track “Içimdeki Düşman” takes the mood of Disintegration’s loping, spiraling classic, “Fascination Street,” and thickens it, dragging it downward another notch with Caner’s low and dreary vocals.
A standout on the album, and in the band’s full discography, is closer “İçe Kapaniş III,” a song straight out of 1989 in its dance-focused drum beats. When a voice-like synthesizer brings the song to its peak, She Past Away remove everything but a lonely guitar and sound samples of a peaceful night.
Astari Nite, Traitrs and She Past Away perform 7pm Tuesday, April 14 at Respectable Street in West Palm Beach. shepastaway.org ~ Erik Kvarnberg
