Hazy synth rockers Admirers are set to release their debut LP, Involuntary Memory, on July 23rd via Ardent Music/Redeye Distribution. Mikey James, the main creative force behind the Admirers moniker, has taken his lifelong preoccupation with pop culture and turned those populist impulses into something that transcends genre boundaries and rote categorization. Danceable without beholden to the dancefloor and synth-laden without reeking of modern synth pop revisionism, James crafts expansive musical landscapes that you can’t help but get lost in.
Recently, he handed over his latest single “Spirit Lamp” to musical chameleons Joywave to see what the experimental popsters could do with the nostalgia-tinged song. But unlike some remixers, Joywave didn’t so much deconstruct the track as add subtle, and occasionally not-so-subtle, accents that brought the glistening pop sheen to a blinding polish. Swirls of massing synths and reverbed vocals stretch across the piano-abetted beat, and it’s all wrapped up in a swooning melody that ebbs and flows throughout the instrumentation, finally coming to rest somewhere deep inside your cerebellum. Listen to Joywave’s take on Admirers’ “Spirit Lamp” below.
