I won’t ever need the sunlight
As long as I can call you mine
Vampire romances have a peculiar idea of considerate courtship. Somewhere between the first kiss and the first bite, the vampire feels obliged to explain the terms: eternal hunger, the loss of mortal life, and, in many versions, never seeing the sun again. The mortal lover hears an invitation to stay together forever and begins clearing out a wardrobe for evening wear. What the vampire considers a curse sounds suspiciously like commitment to the human who has already fallen in love. For that mortal lover, another sunrise seems a poor consolation when it means waking up without the vampire.
In Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula, Gary Oldman’s Count hesitates to condemn Winona Ryder’s Mina to his dark fate: “I love you too much to condemn you.” Mina sees this mercy rather differently: “Please, I don’t care. Make me yours.” To him, love means protecting her from his curse; to her, it means being allowed to share it. There’s something exquisitely romantic about a monster trying to spare a lover who has already decided that eternity together is worth the consequences. Even damnation can start to sound like a honeymoon when you’re with the right person.
And San Diego synthpop trio Twin Ritual take the willing lover’s side on their new single, Just Like a Vampire. Vocalist Hannah Mahute, Anthony Ramirez of Glass Spells on synthesizers and drums, and guitarist Antonio Estrada give this dangerous attraction an almost disarmingly lovely setting: melodic guitars, analog synths, a driving rhythm, and a voice that makes permanent darkness sound like somewhere you might gladly settle down.
The song opens with a pounding drumbeat and atmospheric synth pads, then the percussion coalesces into a locomotive dance rhythm. A looping guitar figure introduces a bright new-wave melody, giving the arrangement its cinematic sweep. A firm bass synth pattern supports Mahute’s entrance, and her inviting delivery blends the melodic lift of mid-to-late 1980s pop with a contemporary electronic polish reminiscent of CHVRCHES. Mahute’s vocals make vampiric surrender sound tender, eager, and already decided.
Synthwave flourishes run throughout the song, with the mix giving the guitars, synthesizers, and drums room to complement one another. Around two-thirds of the way through, guitar chords meet wavering synth lines and the bass synth, bringing the nocturnal romance of the Drive soundtrack to mind. Yet, the music has a luminous pop quality that makes the prospect of never seeing daylight again seem all the more deliciously incongruous.
Lyrically, bloodletting becomes a sanguine courtship ritual: a polite request earns an eager yes. As attraction deepens into addictive devotion, the lover embraces the song’s sweetest contradiction: becoming undead promises the feeling of finally being alive. And the belief that heaven arranged the match lends this supposedly damned affair a curious blessing, making surrender feel like the fulfillment of something written in the stars.
With its final promise, the song’s mortal lover accepts the terms: every future sunrise traded for an eternity together. The bite becomes a vow, and blood the price willingly paid to keep it. With their beloved close enough to touch, daylight feels like something they can gladly learn to live without.
For a band from San Diego, whose famous Sunset Cliffs make a persuasive case for remaining mortal, giving up the sun is a considerable romantic gesture. After the emotional uncertainty of Suffocate, Twin Ritual give devotion an extravagant vow, carried by a wonderfully bright melody. If the future must be spent without dawn, at least there will be someone worth staying up for.
Listen to Just Like a Vampire below and order the single here.
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The post “For Your Eternity I Would Bleed” — Twin Ritual Find Love at First Bite on Sunset Synthpop Single “Just Like a Vampire” appeared first on Post-Punk.com.
