Fredricksburg, VA upstarts Widow Rings have a unique take on modern goth music; straying away from the recent popularization of “darkwave” and shoegaze-centric tunes and leaning fully into a style pulled from bands like The Chameleons, The Church, Sisters of Mercy and The Mission UK. Their latest single is called “A Little Forever” and reminds us of something that would have turned up on a Factory Records compilation if they were still doing those in 2020 (woulda been cool, right?) – it’s mix of retro synth sounds and modern punk leaning differentiate it from the sometimes overly “sexy” goth music dominating the scene today, and positions them alongside peers like Vision Video, 7candystars and Molchat Doma. Check out the song and get inside the goth stylings of Caleb DiLoreto below!
“Widow Rings has always been kind of a two headed beast, half leaning into a more synthesizer focused sound while also half leaning into a driving, guitar based feel because of our prior background in hardcore and punk.” says guitarist and ringleader Caleb DiLoreto. “We’ve only really been a band for just around two years, and the process is always ongoing. With our new song ‘A Little Forever’, I feel like we are finally managing to meld those two different directions. The synthesizers really drive everything at its core, while the guitars interweave as a separate texture on top to give it some more life. As we finished tracking the EP we’ll be releasing, we all knew right away this one would have to be the song that serves as a way for people to really understand what we’re about.”
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THE TOP 5 – WIDOW RINGS
– Joy Division: “Really a no-brainer, honestly. Without them, I would argue that the majority of the hallmarks of post punk and goth just wouldn’t exist the way they do. Easy a pick as it may be, I don’t think anything will ever top the bizarre mixture of introspection and bliss I felt the first time I heard Disorder.”
– New Order: “Their mixture of post punk’s early guitar based stylings and the burgeoning influence of synthesizer based music made a stamp on the genre that I can only hope to shamelessly ape for many years to come. Where Movement was essentially a lighter Joy Division album, with every album afterwards the members pulled off the impossible by pioneering a new sound for the second time in their careers.”
– The Jesus and Mary Chain: “JAMC really managed to nail something that was simultaneously youthful and world weary through their use of pop sensibilities on a raw bed of feedback and reverb drenched instrumentals.”
– Depeche Mode: “Depeche Mode managed to do a pivot from fun and light synthpop to something dark, hypnotic and seductive while remaining world class the whole time. On top of this, Dave Gahan remains one of the finest examples of frontman in the genre, managing to make entire arenas feel like a small after hours club. The way they established (in my opinion) the legitimacy of synthesizers as something that could be taken seriously instead of as a gimmick is invaluable in its impact on not just the genre, but (again in my opinion) music as a whole.”
– The Cure: “Saving the big one for last here. Every era of The Cure is, in my opinion, perfect. I can point to any era and directly think of various sub-genres The Cure hinted at that eventually became full-fledged movements. Almost the entire umbrella of post punk, the oft argued spectrum that it may be, exists in some modicum throughout their discography.”
– BONUS ” In the modern wave of bands out there, I’d really like to shout-out Actors, who I’ve been following for a couple years now with every lush release they put out. They have become an absolute titan in the global scene, and I am stoked. Also, I’d like to shout out 7CandyStars who are really hitting their stride in something that is equally gritty and melancholy. The mixture of fuzz and this overall ethereal vibe is something I have seen repeatedly attempted but rarely done exceedingly well.”
