Yew Haiku, the recording name of Fuschia Smith, is a Nashville, USA-based synth pop artist who has just hit my radar thanks to her short and sweet new album Century Gothic.

By Graeme Smith

Century Gothic is, as the name suggests, Gothic for our modern age. In this five-track collection, Yew Haiku gives us stories of the fear of economic collapse, disconnection and technology-based dating downfalls. It’s a cautionary tale, warning of how the more technology we introduce into our lives, the less human we become, and there are things within our minds and our society that should be left well alone.

The album starts with Dream Sequence. It’s a short introduction, opening with brooding, droning electronica and ambient textures. It draws us into another world, and we don’t even pause to look over our shoulder at what we might be leaving behind.

Experience or Turing elevates things, with bright, airy synth and ethereal vocals. Yet, there’s a sinister message of over-perfection in its lyrics. Peach Nietzsche is similarly floating in its composition but goes even darker with its lyrical story of despair.

Real Eyes Realize Real Lies is a mid-album gem that perfectly captures the album’s theme of dreams becoming nightmares. It starts gentle and sugary before brooding synth and disorientating harmonies subtly change the mood. Quartz Courts end thing with a comparatively urgent, percussion-led meditation.

In my many years of music writing, I’ve not heard an album quite as unique and boundary-pushing as Century Gothic. Yew Haiku turns her back on the song writing rulebook, instead choosing to forge a new direction. She certainly has her contemporaries, the more ethereal moments of Grimes comes to mind, but I think Yew Haiku is in a league of her own. The combination of the sweet and the nihilistic in her music is unparalleled and ingenious.

Century Gothic won’t be for everyone, but the careful listener will get so much out of it. You can check it out below.