Sun Q hail from Russia, and their sophomore album, Mythwave, is rather special, full of energy and attitude. They are a garage rock band, but this is a deliberate inversion of that to a retro synth rock work.

The band are Elena Tiron and Ivan Shalimov. The album is available at https://sunqband.bandcamp.com/album/mythwave and available on all major streaming platforms.

So, six tracks in just 25 minutes of music, but an awful lot packed into that period.

Firstly, let’s look at the official launch video. The narrative accompanying it makes it clear that these two draw their inspiration from a retro-past, helping them and us to escape the cacophony of modern noise. I absolutely get that – I sometimes think that if I hear just one more blasted advert for an AI-Platform, the radio will be thrown out of the window.

Saturn (Intro) starts us off, and there is another video embedded for you to get a real flavour of this work. The footage is from the 1984 Romanian sci-fi animation "Delta Space Mission". When I first heard this, I fell head over heels for Tiron’s voice, and the soundscapes crated aren’t half bad, either, a superb start to proceedings, the intensity building so strongly.

Dionysus Level is next, and he was the Greek God of all things nice such as wine and fertility. There is such a pleasing catchiness to this, the electronic pulses, synths rising, the vocals playful in a definite nod to 80’s synth pop/rock, with some fine complex work in the main key solo.

Children Glitching is a bundle of fun referencing childhood and the digital world of Tron, the classic movie starring Jeff Bridges, and in between the relentless beats, there are some strong electronic prog sensibilities in here, and the closing passage is very powerful with synths and voice in perfect harmony. It is embedded below.

Cybertree takes its inspiration from the likes of early Depeche Mode, and after a pensive start, halfway through it explodes into a firework display of electronic noise, huge, expansive, orchestral and simply brilliant. As it draws to a close, before a final burst of noise, there is an interesting mix of the electronic with the gospel.

I am the Neon Sun is the longest track at 5:33. It has clear echoes of Vangelis and the soundtrack to Blade Runner at its core. Vocally, Tiron is distorted as we start, but when this is removed, there is a first-person narrative, and the synths are lovely, almost pastoral, and fans of the retro drum machine will find much to enjoy (not, I know, to everyone’s taste). This is an interesting mix of the dystopian and sunny uplands, and there are, incidentally, memories of the voice of Delores O’Riordan in here.

We close with Crystal Doors Unlocked. The opening of this is dark, the voice distinctly lower in the range, and this is not quite dispelled during the heavier passages, where the synths replicate that starburst effect, exploding all around you, but there are also minimalist segments, commentary and distorted robotic words against spartan chords. The closing passage, however, dispels it all, the voice soaring against a crescendo of synths, closing with a lonely sax parp.

Mythwave is not, it must be said, the typical kind of release I am sent by Bad Dog Promotions, but it does show the eclectic nature of Anne-Claire’s stable of artists, and I really like that. Certainly, if you liked the Enigmatic Sound Machines debut, you would find a lot to enjoy here.