“Dark, poppy Gothic cabaret with an ease and panache that’s really exciting…their dark, swirling sound is set off by brilliant vocals and a sort of look-but-don’t-touch cool” - Louder than War

Sobranie 8 18 is a union of two unique artists, Nastya and Kirill, who share personal and artistic interests - though based in Russia, they could just as easily have created their music on the surface of Jupiter, so strangely unearthly is their sound. Formed in 2015, their early releases offered only a tantalising glimpse at their current prowess, the low-fi pop sound morphing into their current world of dark electronic whispers and ultraviolet screams. Their forthcoming self-titled album features ten tracks of transcendental melody; avant garde experimentation; retro pop and eternal truths – it is released on 3rd February 2020.

Sobranie in Russian means “meet together”, an appropriate word for the coming together of music, verse and minds of Nastya and Kirill, the masterminds behind Sobranie 8 18. Following in the wake of Sobranie 7 17 a now extinct dark electronics project and alongside Nastya’s solo project, Sobranie 9 19, Sobranie 8 18 has become the main effort of the duo. The figures 7 and 17 are sacred numbers - the other figures represent the artist’s intuitive associations with the variety of music genres. Influenced by dark techno, new euro pop, field recordings and experimental sounds, Sobranie 8 18 is the clearest manifestation of their musical manifesto.

A world away from their debut LP, Demons, the Angel and Dark Thoughts, Sobranie 8 18’s forthcoming self-titled album is a new step in the band’s musical development, as they explain:

“We have been working on it for about 2-and-a-half years. Our composition principle was to make sure that each song was as distinctive as possible. This title is probably not even an ‘album’ in a generic sense but rather a collection of songs because every track is very different.

It was the first time we used live instruments. With the help of our friends we have recorded bass guitar, sax, flute, male and female choir trio, harmonica and piano, adding all this to the electronic sound made by Elektron Analog Four among other synths. We also used a recorder to capture some of the instruments, our homage to the low-fi sound and a way to say ‘goodbye’ to it. We’ve been inspired by many things - music, movies, feelings, hometown atmosphere and intangible things one can just feel”