PHOTO (AND MAKEUP) BY ERICA VERMILYEA
Daughter Vision are a fun and fascinating mix of the theatrical glam of David Bowie, the art rock of Laurie Anderson, and the synth pop of Kraftwerk and Vince Clarke of Depeche Mode, Yaz and Erasure. If Robert Smith from The Cure and Siouxsie Sioux were married by Paul Jourgensen of Ministry, Daughter Vision would make the perfect wedding band.
Together more than seven years with two LPs and an EP to their credit, the artsy Asbury synth-pop unit recently added to the lineup beloved Jersey Shore singer-songwriter Emily Grove, but in her Daughter Vision role as Amarna Yoni, she delivers a much different dynamic than her solo act with even more range due to the often fierce versus folk nature of the music. An excellent showcase of this dynamic is “Hang the Picture” from Daughter Vision’s new three-track “DV EP.” Amarna degenerates from a heavenly, hymn-like opening that sounds like a Celtic angel to a musical Medusa who poisons with poetics, especially the second verse: “You speak in tongues as I'm hiding underground waiting for you to fall. With one wave of my hand, I drew the blood from your poisoned mouth. Now you can take your crown of thorns and throw it on the fire. The one who once was the king of lies is finally my prey.”
As the Makin Waves Song of the Week, “ Hang the Picture” can be heard four times daily at AsburyMusic.com, two more times on the station’s “Radio Jersey” show, as well as at Makin Waves’ Spotify playlist. The intense tune also features a sweet keyboard solo most likely by Stephen H. Christ that unlike a lot of synth-pop or electronica is gritty and soulful. More avenues for guitar traveled by Väl Challah also set apart Daughter Vision, who also feature great performances on percussion and sequencer by Bob Dammit.
The EP opens with “Beyond the Pale,” which is propelled by poppy Vince Clarke-like keyboards that balance a menacing melody that sounds more like Nine Inch Nails. The closer is a re-recording of the erotic domination of “Suffocate the World,” but with Amarna at the mic. Originally released on the 2016 LP, “Do What You Want,” the dichotomous track is a great fusion of danceable pop and dark dissonance that offers bouncy fun one minute and haunting heaviness the next. I especially love the titillating, cult-like gang chant on the refraining bridge.
I’m really looking forward to hearing more from the female-fronted Daughter Vision, who will celebrate the release of “DV EP” on Halloween at Asbury’s Bond Street Basement with Sweet Joey’s Thing of Beauty. They also will play Nov. 15 and 16 at Mesa Music Fest in Arizona, Nov. 23 at Asbury Park Yacht Club as part of the female-focused/fronted Tallie Fest, and Dec. 2 at the Wonder Bar, also in Asbury Park.
Bob Makin is the reporter for MyCentralJersey.com/entertainment and a former managing editor of The Aquarian Weekly, which launched this column in 1988. Contact him at [email protected]. And like Makin Waves at www.facebook.com/makinwavescolumn.
