Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Welcome To Prom Night At Arcade High

Arcade High's latest EP is upon us, a rollercoaster ride of teenage love distilled into five tracks of perfect Synth Romance. The Beauty Queen EP is the vision of American high school romance in 1985. A time when we wished we were either dating Molly Ringwald (or Kirk Cameron). A time when our lives were spent either trying to fit in or trying not to fit in, and a time when the slightest touch from our date's hand meant more than life itself.


The evening begins with the title track. Beauty Queen is a sumptuous introduction to the excitement of the night ahead. Slowly building, making every moment count and making the anticipation prom night even more alluring. Meeting up with our date is still hours away, but the sweat on our palms and nervousness is already becoming unbearable. Walking in the cool night air provides a temporary respite as our composure is regained and the smooth synth melodies becomes the remedy to bring back our cool.

The time takes forever to tick by, but it's finally time to meet up. A Blacktop Rendezvous is where we finally get together, so nervous both of us can barely speak, but the music takes us to where we want to be. It says everything we wish we could say to eachother, but are just too scared to. The drive to school seems to take forever, we've taken this trip a thousand times or more, but tonight it's different, tonight feels like the first time and the soundtrack that accompanies us makes it even more special. Let's just be quiet and let the lyrics say what we wish we could.

Through the excitement of meeting up with our friends, we lose eachother in the crowds. The music picks up the pace and the dancefloor fills up. Dream Of Me begins to play and we look for eachother through the throngs filling the gym hall, but you aren't there. The music gets louder and as the melodies reverberate through our hearts, the crowds begin to thin, coloured beams of light flash and illuminate frames of  indicernable humans around us. At this moment our eyes meet and in an instant we are together.

Prom Night begins, as our embrace turns into a slow dance. The music says everything, we don't need to speak. It's a frozen moment in time, that we know will last forever, gazing into eachother's eyes, linked by the music that lingers all about us. If you asked me how long this song went for I couldn't tell you, but it's somewhere between now and eternity. To be any closer at this moment would be impossible, and 'our song' makes it even deeper.

As we move as one around a dancefloor that seems all of sudden very empty it becomes clear that nobody else matters tonight. This is the time, this is it. We both lean forward and our lips meet in a kiss that feels like that first time earlier that semester. The electric touch charges between us and beats as our hearts pound together. The kiss that means everything to both of us. The kiss we never want to end. I feel you hold me tighter and I open my eyes as you pull away slightly and whisper ever so gently "You said forever..".

Arcade High's Beauty Queen EP is available on Bandcamp here for $4.95 and is the perfect soundtrack to any night when you want to be young, in love and in 1985.



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