Altered Zones

True Panther just rolled out this new single from Silent Diane, whom you've probably already heard mentioned alongside Sleep ∞ Over, Pure X, Survive, Troller, How I Quit Crack, and other bands from the small-but-thriving, tarot-and-juicer-friendly Austin psych scene recently captured by The Fader's Sam Hockley-Smith in "Austin Texas: The City That Always Sleeps." (Consider that Christine Aprile-- one half of the gothy synth-pop duo, with Malcolm Elijah-- is roommates with members of Pure X and Sleep Over, and you get an idea of how small it really is.) Silent Diane has been around since 2009, and appears to have blossomed since its grit-laden early singles into the kind of band that makes wide-eyed, sing-along, stylistically hybrid stadium anthems. "Capella" combines inflections of pan-Asian, electronic kitsch with flickering beats and one soaring wingspan of a vocal line. --Emilie Friedlander, Altered Zones

Silent Diane: "Capella"

"Capella" 7" is available now from True Panther

Vintage drum machines and swelling synths may spell witch-house or chillwave, but in the case of Silent Diane, those micro-genres couldn't be more inappropriate. Rather, the Austin duo of Christine Apprille and Eli Welbourne craft notably hi-fi (for their peers) dark-pop, with elements of Ketamine-house and dark wave for good measure. The result is a marveling mix of its components, as woozy and romantic as it is spellbinding. The group's debut single on Answering Machine Recordings, also home to Austin compadre How I Quit Crack, "Juliet the Painting" and "Riverside" showed us what Silent Diane are capable of, "Spell" and "Aegion" give us a glimpse of what the future may hold for the synth-duo. (via Chocolate Bobka)

Silent Diane are making their NYC debut this week and will be playing the Chocolate Bobka show at Shea Stadium Saturday 11/13 with Big Troubles, Velvet Davenport, Sacred Harp and Flower Orgy