Bedroom Witch, The

***The Bedroom Witch In A Place of Hurt—deep evocative synths permeate the album with thumping, insistent percussion throughout. Nuanced layers of electronics seem at once ancient and timeless, blended with haunting vocal performances and romantically complicated sonic architecture "Sepehr Mashiahof, aka The Bedroom Witch, told us back in 2017 in no uncertain terms that she believes the dancefloor is a healing space and that she sees making music as a form of emotional connection. She’s spent years building metaphorical worlds that speak broadly to all of the identities she occupies—Iranian, American, trans woman—and the ways those identity categories are constructed and policed by society. On A Place of Hurt, she tunnels deeper into those themes, making them explicit without reducing their complexity. (On 'Crossing Over,' for example, she describes being hit by a car while crossing the street and having her death justified: 'You tell me that I’m crazy/ For thinking I could be like you and make it over safely.') All of this is set to precise and relentlessly catchy darkwave that weaves in aspects of other ‘80s club music (most notably freestyle, as on opener 'My Only,' but also the various offspring of New Order and the Factory sound). A polished producer and excellent songwriter, Mashiahof is able to bring us into her world so expertly because she has skill, vulnerability, and a keen eye for imagery. A Place of Hurt is, ultimately, a place of catharsis."—Jes Skolnik