Tomorrow, Analogue Heart will officially release their latest single, “Windows 98 Maze.” Left of the Dial has been lucky enough to get early access to the track, and we’re excited to share it with you a little early today.
The song blends twangy post-hardcore with chiptune and synthwave, bouncing back and forth between the musician’s signature auto-tuned vocals and hardcore screams. It’s a sound reminiscent of earlier synth-hardcore acts like I Set My Friends On Fire – and in fact, Analogue Heart covered their classic song “Things That Rhyme With Orange” earlier this year.
Listen to “Windows 98 Maze” below.
Analogue Heart is an Atlanta-based musician who makes “disco-inspired emo music about being a gay computer.” Honestly, I don’t think I could write anything that would sell them better than that. How could you NOT want to listen to gay computer emo? Always donning a CRT on their head, they sing of programming malfunctions, misfiring circuits, and flickering screens.
Similar to bands like hey, ily and exciting!!excellent!!, Analogue Heart dabbles in various genres, blending them in innovative ways. Previously, they’ve released singles that dip into the realm of dream-pop and shoegaze. On their 2021 release, Digital Soul, you can hear everything from funk guitar riffs to synthpop to twinkly midwest emo. Raw intermissions with screaming lyrics about hatred and regret segue into bitpop jams like “CPU,” and it works surprisingly well – blurring the lines between the computer persona and the vulnerable person underneath the malfunctioning screen.
“Windows 98 Maze” is the first single off of Analogue Heart’s upcoming EP, User Pleasure Guaranteed. The EP will be released via Lonely Ghost Records in early 2024. Follow Analogue Heart over on Instagram to keep up with news surrounding the release.
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