Date With Destiny arrive steeped in decay. Their debut album Rain of Despair channels the specter of eighties synthpop, new wave, and darkwave, filtered through a present tense defined by sociopolitical upheaval and emotional dislocation.
At the heart of the project are vocalist Lisa Cuthbert and musician/songwriter Alex Clark, whose artistic direction strikes a delicate line between elegance and loss. Cuthbert’s voice is also heard in the music of post rock outfit ISON and has performed alongside The Sisters of Mercy.
Set Me Free is one of the album's breakout tracks. The song is moody and enticing, wrapping emotion in forward motion and delivering melancholy with a pulse. The synth lines shimmer, propelling the song into an atmosphere of intensified emotions, and what follows feels like an intimate apocalypse in which eliminating everything seems preferable to observing sluggish decay.
Rain of Despair gains additional weight through its mix by Maurizio Baggio, whose contibution, shaped by works with Boy Harsher, The Soft Moon, and Nuovo Testamento, anchors the album in a modern dark continuum.
ZR