Two artists from different corners of the electronic music spectrum have joined forces to create an enticing new song called “Save Myself.” The track comes from industrial pop icon Aesthetic Perfection and is co-written and co-sung by Empathy Test frontman Isaac Howlett. It somehow works.
Isaac kicks off “Save Myself” with a lovely, elegant verse that sounds like an Empathy Test song, but it’s stacked atop a fiery futurepop beat with warbling Aesthetic Perfection electronics. We’ve never heard his voice on anything like this. When Daniel Graves joins in for a duet, they sound surprisingly great together.
“Save Myself” is the eleventh installment of Aesthetic Perfection’s “12 Songs in 12 Months” project. He’s been cranking out a new song each month this year with wildly different sounds and styles. Previous track “Bark at the Moon” was a synthwavey pop song with a more accessible sound than we’re used to hearing from AP.
As for Isaac, this is the first time we’ve heard new material from him since Empathy Test’s monumental full-length, Monsters, my favorite album of 2020. Empathy Test is working on new music now and has already announced that their next song will be called “Moths.”
Daniel and Isaac are longtime friends, and though this is their first musical collaboration, it’s not the first time they’ve joined forces. In 2019, they toured North America together on the Into the Black tour. I caught that show at the DC stop.
“Save Myself” will be available on Bandcamp, Spotify, and other digital platforms tomorrow.
