This is a synthpop album drenched in 1980s new wave melodies but speaking of 2020s issues — from social media enslavement and the rise of political prisoners to mass layoffs and treating workers as mere cogs in a corporate machine.
Wageslave is the third installment in a series that seeks to explain the suffering of the low-salaried wage worker. The other two being Corporate/Vapor/Wave and Corporate Inefficiency Machine.
What it Sounds Like
This is synthpop and synthwave with vocals and arrangements reminiscent of Heaven 17, Depeche Mode, OMD, and Human League. It’s not a shiny happy pop album though it has lots of glittering synth hooks. Listen below.
Behind the Title
Wage slaves are those who live paycheck to paycheck, earning low wages that barely cover their expenses. It’s a cycle of consumption: the worker earns just enough to live off and thus is enslaved to his job and can’t leave or upgrade. Often the only salve for the gaping hole is more consumption which drags him deeper into debt.
Behind the Songs
- Feed The Machine: I wanted to write a song about social networks and their constant need for content. The strain this demand places on creators, particularly those who would try to earn a living off their content. It’s insane. It’s not a way to live, and yet, it’s such a necessity for modern marketing and for entertainment. And there doesn’t seem to be a healthy solution to dumping heart and soul into soul-less social networks.
- Reduction In Force: This one started as an acoustic pop song that I wrote as an ode to being laid off. Here’s what the original sounded like:
- This Is Fine: The dog with the mug sitting amidst the flames? Yes, a song about saying this is fine even when the company you work for is crumbling into ineptitude and political backstabbing. Because you’ve got to keep going for the paycheck.
- Silent Room (C Minor): A 2004 song about a political prisoner in jail for an unknown crime, convicted by a kangaroo court, with no hope of justice. Still happens in countries like the Philippines… and more recently, the U.S. as well. This one started out as a song on the debut album of my trip-hop trio, Clone. It was the third track on “Demonstrandum.” Listen to what it sounded like here:
- Yesterday I Was Dying (V3): This was written within the first year of migrating to the United States. Started out as a straughtforward song with breakbeats, but I ended up using a robotic vocoder voice for the final version. It just fit more with the entire vibe of the displaced worker.
Credits
File under: #synthpop #synthwave #pop #newwave
Sounds like: Heaven17, Depeche Mode, OMD, Tears for Fears, Human League
Released: February 26, 2025
All titles composed, arranged, and produced between 2009 and 2025 by Lionel Zivan S. Valdellon using Reason Studios software.