On Friday, January 23rd at 4:15pm, dahlia airs her recent conversation with Los Angeles based artist, Mareux, ahead of his show at San Francisco’s August Hall for this year’s Homesick Fest on January 31. Tune in to hear about angry goths, internet virality, and an Australian cold case!
Mareux (Aryan Ashtiani) is known for his atmospheric and romantic takes on post-punk and darkwave. He’s taken his viral momentum to major stages like Coachella and into his latest album, Nonstop Romance, a nostalgia-filled, ’80s-inspired exploration of love and all it entails.
Nonstop Romance is rough and unmannered, completely drunk in love and refusing to walk it off. Like a frilly valentine scuffed on hard pavement, it’s simultaneously gushing and fractured, distorted into illegibility but transparent in its intentions.
Each of Mareux’s intricately crafted tracks are set up like Venus fly traps, beaming romance and thumping beats underlit in a sinister red. Maintaining that balance—between the album’s obvious pleasure and the quiet threat that accompanies it—is central to its ethos.
