Electronic/Review Cupid Spell - Look Alike
Cupid Spell is a dark synthpop duo founded by Josh Kreuzman and Mandy Buffington in Bloomington, IN, earlier this year. Josh (the darkwave artist known as Twice Dark) and Mandy created a project where they could explore themes of love, loss, and mystery together. Josh and Mandy created Cupid Spell to craft a single called “Look Alike” for the 10th issue of Lover’s Eye Press.
An euphoric journey into the uncanny, Cupid Spell's “Look Alike” pays homage to David Lynch's strange world and the hazy boundaries between perception and reality. The song creates its own unique identity within the dark synth-pop genre while channeling the spooky dreamscapes of Angelo Badalamenti and Julee Cruise with its melancholy synth soundscapes, whispered vocals, and hypnotic beat.
“Look Alike” is like floating through a fever dream from the first notes. With layers of synth that pulse like a heartbeat in a room lighted by red, the production is immersive and cinematic. The track's thematic core—a study on duality, duplicity, and the brittle line separating the ego from its reflection—is grounded by a sample of David Lynch from his “Number of the Day” series that permeates the mix. Using this motif, Cupid Spell explores a troubling emotional landscape: the conflict between our true selves and our outward selves.
The end effect is a soundscape that is both future and nostalgic, eerie and alluring. It conjures the glossy discomfort of contemporary darkwave artists like Boy Harsher and Drab Majesty, as well as the noir mystery of Twin Peaks. The vocabulary of Lynchian surrealism is transformed into throbbing, danceable melancholy in “Look Alike,” yet it is not imitation.
“Look Alike” is ultimately more of an experience than a song, a mirror held up to the subconscious that challenges listeners to face their hidden twin. In Cupid Spell, we are invited to fantasize, disintegrate, and pose the most basic yet peculiar query: Are you truly who you are?