Cupid Spell – Look Alike (2025)
Bloomington-based duo Cupid Spell step into shadows with their first single ‘Look Alike’, written for the 10th issue of Lover’s Eye Press. Conceived as an homage to David Lynch’s surreal world-building, the track explores duplicity, dual nature and the strange tension between the familiar and the uncanny.
From the start, there’s a sense of ritual to the song. It opens with a simple count-off (“1, 2, 3, 4”) which later returns as “5, 6, 7”, threading a kind of continuity through the track. The detail is small but effective, grounding the listener even as the music leans into disorientation.
Josh Kreuzman and Mandy Buffington’s voices immediately set the tone. At first, their voices blend into something ghostly and intertwined, before separating and trading phrases like twin reflections slightly out of sync. There’s an undeniable chemistry in the way their tones overlap and then separate. The heavy vocal effects enhance the mood but also blur the lyrics, which can make them harder to catch on first listen. Still, that fogginess feels intentional, like a dialogue overheard in a dream where meaning slips just out of reach.
The production choices add to this effect. The track layers its synth textures and vocal treatments with precision. Listening on headphones is the best way to catch the details. For example, the way a harmony suddenly drifts across one ear or the subtle shifts in depth as the song leans into its mesmerising repetition.
Musically, ‘Look Alike’ sits in the darker corner of synth-pop, pulsing and hypnotic. There’s a momentum that builds with each layer, drawing you deeper into its atmosphere. At the same time, the song does veer toward repetition as it stretches on, lingering in its textures rather than shifting form. Depending on the listener, that can either heighten the hypnotic pull or leave you wishing for a sharper turn.
As an introduction to Cupid Spell, ‘Look Alike’ works as both a concept and a mood piece. It carries the DNA of Twin Peaks in its blending of the alluring and the unsettling, and it captures that Lynchian sense that beauty and strangeness often share the same face. It’s less about clarity and more about atmosphere.
Find out more about Cupid Spell on their Instagram, Soundcloud and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
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