Private World are back with ‘Hypnagogia’ : the captivating single from their debut album Aleph set to be released via goth heavyweights Dais Records on 28 August 2020.
Hypnagogia is elegant and effortless. Nostalgia-exuding synths, minimal guitar and refined bass lines dance around the reverb-laden drums, with every minute element of instrumentation that lucidly comes and goes complimenting the intricacy of the song in the most harmonious way.
Tom Sanders’ vocals are reverent waves of wistful New Romance. Abstract and chimeric in their imagery, lines such as ‘open the door into the backroom, shake the hand that wears the glove of leather’ and ‘memories in your mind that misbehave’ have a David Lynch-esque quality of dissociated paranoia – uneasy yet alluring, it makes the listener ache for further narrative answers.
Only in the outro are we met with any form of conclusion: a yearning saxophone solo. Even this unapologetic motif (a nod to greats of the past such as Tears for Fears) refuses to break the hyper-crystalline form of ‘Hypnagogia‘, but instead it simply continues to elevate it.
Private World are one of those rare acts that are able to grasp the vast undertaking of bringing a fresh remedy to an era of music that is so rich in legacy and innovation. ‘Hypnagogia’ is not only a step up in terms of production and songwriting, but also a sign of how significant this emerging band will be.