WHITE BLUSH

White Blush

whiteblushh.com

On her website, L.A. synth-pop spellbinder Carol Rhyu, aka White Blush, offers up a mixtape of favorite songs. The collection spans gloomy post-punk godheads Joy Division to Julee Cruise—director David Lynch’s go-to artist for nightmarishly beautiful pop songs—with Desire’s Drive soundtrack cut “Under Your Spell” thrown in for good measure. All three inform Rhyu’s debut EP, though her experimental tendencies reveal an artist not simply beholden to influences. On “True Luv” and “Juice of My Heart,” she coos semi-intelligibly over steady beats and repeating synth lines, fashioning dazed-out New Wave not quite right for dancing. On “Wait” and “808 Myst,” she strips away the drums, ditching the pulse yet maintaining the mystery.