New Music: Observation Room – Running Lights

When your existence is politicised, by extension, so is your music, whether that is your intention or not.

For Brooklyn’s Observation Room, Marina F and Chloe Olson, their experiences as queer and trans women play a role in their music but can change how that is perceived in political systems that are hostile to both. You hear that within Running Lights, an early insight to their Superstructure LP.

Musically, the strongest themes within Running Lights are ones that are not exactly mainstream but do predate it, to my ears. If you’re familiar with the early days of Cabaret Voltaire, Clock DVA, and The Human League, you’ll warm to the proto-cold wave and proto-synthpop electronics and clean-cut production. But similarly, it explores narratives common in their songs: technology, oppression, surveillance, and trying to live when that triad of terror seems pervasive.

As queer people, we’re often accused of ‘ramming a message down someone’s throat’ – Running Lights points that back at the accusers. It articulates the reality that many are facing in the US and UK (and beyond) and does so in a restrained manner. The vocals carry pain and intimacy within, but you can hear the anger and defiance in the lyrics because what they want to say will be heard, because as the phrase goes, ‘Silence = Death’. Just like back then, this is not just a slogan but a lived reality.

Superstructure is out on the 11th of September, 2026, and is up for pre-order in two vinyl versions via à la carte Records. Head to Bandcamp or Instagram for details.

Header image by timothy o’connell