There is something magical in the soundscape of “Co-Star,” the new release by the Danish electropop alchemists When Saints Go Machine. With a pulsating pulse and hauntingly whale-songy vocals, the trio, which includes Silas Moldenhawer, Jonas Kenton, and Nikolaj Manuel Vonsild, continues to eschew genre categories, serving up what feels more like an astral projection than a song.
From the first moment of “Co-Star,” the track grabs you like the gravitational pull of some other planet. Vonsild’s voice glides, finicky and emotionally heavy, over a skeletal electronic platform that deepens with every moment. The textures are soft but purposeful, glitchy flickers, lusher synth swells, and a beat that lumbers without ever quite settling down yet never relinquishes its hypnotic grip.
Written by Jonas Kenton, Kristian Finne Kristensen, Mads Muurholm, Malthe Beck, Nikolaj Manuel Vonsild, and Silas Moldenhawer, “Co-Star” at once both seems the product of cosmic collaboration and keying off of cosmic chatter. It’s the latter, but it grows from terrestrial desire. As a bonus, it has a subtle tension simmering beneath the surface, like an inner monologue that starts unraveling in neon. The production is done by Jonas Kenton, Nikolaj Manuel Vonsild, Coco O., and Silas Moldenhawer, who fully understand restraint. Every note earns its keep, and the silence means just as much as the synths.
What sets “Co-Star” apart is its ability to be deeply self-inquisitive while sounding like a late-night drive through a futuristic cityscape. It’s moody, magnetic, and cinematic, less a track than a transmission from some parallel universe. The balance between emotional vulnerability and electronic precision is When Saints Go Machine’s real strong suit, and “Co-Star” might be one of their most carefully honed explorations yet.
For fans of audible exploration and soft-spoken vocals encased in silky, space-age production, “Co-Star” is a slow burn you’ll be keen to lose yourself in. It’s not so much that When Saints Go Machine releases a single with “Co-Star,” they release a soundscape that feels as intimate as it does infinite.
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