Kamtin Mohager (aka
Chain Gang of 1974) crafts a shimmering pop dreamscape on his fourth album, 2020's
Honey Moon Drips. The album follows 2017's
Felt and again showcases his long-held love of band's like
Tears for Fears,
OMD, and
Depeche Mode as he dives deeper into a blissed-out '80s synth pop atmosphere. There's a more languid vibe to
Honey Moon Drips than
Felt, where even the most brightly anthemic moments like "Do You Mind" and the electric-guitar accented "Philosophy of Love" are shot through with a blue-tinted melancholy. It's a tone
Mohager sets from the start on his brief 49-second title track intro in which he coos "The Honey Moon Drips on and on..." over wavering keyboard swells and sparkling piano accents. It's a deeply cinematic beginning to the album -- the "cinema" in question landing somewhere in between Blade Runner, Pretty in Pink, and whatever movie best evokes the feeling of having fallen asleep on the couch and waking up at dusk, just as the sun is setting (Slacker? Lost in Translation?). More liminal atmospherics follow on "Giving It Up," "The Hurt Is Good," and "Times That We Had," in which
Mohager frames his yearning, hushed vocals against refracted electronic drums, faraway keyboards, and fluorescent basslines. Elsewhere, he collaborates with Los Angeles electronic duo
TWINKIDS on the buoyant "Bends," and creates a tantalizing combination of
the Cure and
M83 on cuts like "Champagne Saturday" and "Such a Shame."
Honey Moon Drips is an ethereal, slow-burning production that nonetheless holds you in its spectral beauty.