Nicolas Nadeau and Justin Sweatt have made their mark on the Texas electronic/shoegaze/post-punk scene over the last 15 years. Nadeau has fronted shoegaze outfit Single Lash since 2009, as well as playing guitar in the Komisch-heavy Future Museums. While Sweatt has made a name for himself as a premier electronic composer with his dark synth project Xander Harris, towing the line between heavy synth and dark techno. Sweatt has also released eloquent ambient albums under his own name.
Back in the early 2010s Nadeau and Sweatt combined their musical powers and formed the band Slow Pulse, a nod to early 80s synth/electro pop in the vein of Erasure, Hot Chip, and Asylum Party. They released a well-regarded EP back in 2014, but then went their separate ways for a decade.
A bittersweet reunion in 2024 at a mutual friend’s memorial service led to the return of Slow Pulse, and the October 2025 surprise single “A Door That Only Opens in the Dark”. We now have the brand new single “Cries From The Half-World”, a kinetic electro-pop song that brings touches of early 80s Depeche Mode, as well as darker tinges around the fray.
“Cries From The Half-World” wants to move you, literally and emotionally. Nadeau’s silky-smooth baritone hangs in the air with a kind of sensuous glow, while Sweatt’s musical accompaniment gives us serious hard electro dreams. The song teeters between fever dream and lusty late nights on the dance floor.
Here’s to Slow Pulse sticking around for a bit and not waiting another ten years to bless our ears with their dance-heavy electro proclivities. We’re the better for it.
Listen to Slow Pulse’s “Cries From The Half-World” below. Then go to their Bandcamp page and add it to your collection.
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