New single from synthpop outfit is a modern throwback to 80s new wave.

 

HICARI – which we’re reliably informed, for all you non-linguists out there, means ‘light’ in Japanese – are a Liverpool-based synthpop outfit, who have begun to make a name for themselves over the past few months with self-released singles Don’t Stop and Consumed.

They’ve now returned once again with the follow-up Catch Fire, a truly vintage sounding track, packed with hectic, woozy synths that sound something like Passion Pit filtered through a prism of glorious 80s new wave. Throughout the track, the band mixes earnest, nostalgic verses with a bridge the tugs at the heart strings – before releasing its catchy, uplifting chorus that wouldn’t sound out of place on one of Carly Rae Jepsen’s recent chart-bothering hits.
Managing to sound like an artfully crafted throwback to the good old days of drivetime radio, yet indisputably modern and relevant at the same time, HICARI shoot for an often attempted, yet rarely mastered, niche and – against the odds – they may have just succeeded with Catch Fire.