On “Foreign Rain,” Jax Goth-Rockers Glass Chapel Channel ’80s Synth-Pop

Glass Chapel performance photo
Jax band Glass Chapel, led by Jake Phillips (center), recently released the '80s-inspired "Foreign Rain." | Courtesy of the artist

The new single from Duval goth-rockers Glass Chapel is ‘80s dourness to the max. Band member Jake Phillips acknowledges that “Foreign Rain” is “inspired by Gary Numan and Cold Cave.” And from the icy keyboard tones, disaffected vocals drenched in reverb, not to mention a definite Peter Hook-infused bass-guitar outro, the tune surely paints within the parameters of dark wave gradients.

The viability of working in the goth/death-rock/what-have-you genre seems immune to the ravages of time: not unlike an 8-bit synthesizer, cooling and eerily preserved in a Transylvanian sepulcher.

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