The debut album from darkwave goddess V

In 2012, V’s raw demos—born in Berlin’s damp undercarriage of artist squats and sleepless nights—collided with Adrienne Teicher’s penchant for lavish synthery, and emerged as fever-drip alchemy. What began as punk’s feral heartbeat pulsed into gothic darkwave circuitry: synths like oil-slick rain, vocals pitched between a serenade and a snarl. The original cassette was released via Adrienne’s Freudian Slit Records and was remastered in 2023 for a limited edition vinyl on Le Petit Signal.

Artist Statement

On a Monday or a Tuesday somewhere in 2012 a new friend called V asked me to play a gig with them on the Thursday of that week.

Terrified, and with only days to prepare I squeaked, “yes, of course, I would love to.”

V sent me a demo of the tracks we would play. Armed with a folder of drum machine samples, and a couple of VSTs poached from a friend, I was able to transport V’s punk palette into the synthwave era.

The songs remain among the work I am most proud of. Having a limited set of sounds and no time to second guess any decision, the work feels integrated, raw and immediate. V’s voice and words are so honest, desolate and heart-breaking and it transports me back to a moment of both naiveté and rapid transformation in my own life: years of joy and uncertainty.

The gig was a hit. V and I returned to my bedroom studio on and off for the next month or so, re-recording her vocals and bass, and tweaking the arrangements. We released the album and despite my high hopes, the album slipped into obscurity.

Now Le Petit Signal has re-released the album on vinyl: a transmission from Berlin 10 years ago, a city in the dying embers of a post-war era that lasted more than 60 years, when there were more squats than start-ups; and know-nothing upstarts could sit in their rooms making music all day and night, for little to no money simply because they wanted to, because it helped them feel alive.