Release Date 2027

“The Dark Ages” began life as nothing more than a test track—an excuse to fire up the studio’s evolving synth setup and see how the new modular configuration behaved under pressure. What started as a technical experiment quickly grew into something far more evocative, with the patching centred around two modular Eurorack banks loaded with Moog, cre8audio, Datapoint and Doepfer modules, each adding its own flavour of instability, warmth, and controlled chaos.

A revised version of this track is due for release in 2027

There has always been a darker side to This Window’s music, perhaps influenced by its association with the Goth scene and being in a support band for Bauhaus.

The Dark Ages

The track is a nostalgic look back to the old days—some of them good, and quite a few of them best forgotten.

Alongside the modular synth sat the Panasonic SX‑KC600, a humble keyboard/synth that had been dragged out of retirement. Despite its budget‑friendly origins, the SX‑KC600 still delivers unexpectedly lush organ and string tones—sounds that feel like they’ve been trapped in amber since the mid‑1980s. When folded into the modular swirl, these tones deepen the track’s atmosphere, creating a brooding analogue texture that feels both nostalgic and slightly unsettling.

The accompanying video offers a glimpse of the kit involved: cables everywhere, blinking LEDs, oscillators drifting in and out of tune, and that battered Panasonic holding its own against the modular madness. It’s a snapshot of the studio in full experimental mode, capturing the messy, hands‑on side of making electronic music.

Ultimately, “The Dark Ages” became more than a test. It turned into a reflective dive back into earlier musical years—some of them fondly remembered, others best forgotten. The track carries that weight: a mixture of curiosity, melancholy, and the unmistakable pull of old analogue ghosts.