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2024: The Year in Music

Jan 30, 2025

New albums from Frenchy and the Punk, Steam Powered Giraffe, and Abney Park were just a few of last year’s musical highlights in the steampunk world. In addition, chap hop maestro Professor Elemental went in search of Geoffrey, his orangutan butler, and Madam Misfit made her first-ever appearance in the U.S. Later, she released her third album.

On a more serious note, Captain of the Lost Waves released a new album that he created while making a long recovery from injuries suffered in a car accident.

Other notable releases came from Valentine Wolfe, Tom B. Wild, Neovenator, Unwoman, Victor Sierra, Mr. B, Escape the Clouds, and Oregon-based composer Edward Givens. Here’s a rundown.

Frenchy and the Punk Plant a Garden

Frenchy and the Punk released Midnight Garden, their eighth album and their first to be released on vinyl. Consisting of nine tracks, the album explores themes of “otherworldly escape and escapades, past lives, visions, arachnids, starting over, and more,” in the duo’s words. They’ve described the sound as “post punk” and “dark alternative.”

As with their other recent albums, they funded it on Kickstarter. It included one reward you don’t often see: A seed packet for backers who wanted to plant their own Midnight Gardens. (Nine fans took them up on the offer.)

The duo also released two music videos from the album: “Hypnotized” and “Like in a Dream.”

Learn more on their website.

Steam Powered Giraffe

Back in 2015, Steam Powered Giraffe produced the soundtrack for SteamWorld Heist, a well-received video game from Image & Form. The developer released a sequel last year, and once again enlisted the band for musical accompaniment.

Music From SteamWorld Heist II came out in August to coincide with the game release. It features 15 new songs with “a quasi-nautical theme,” as the band described it. Each has an accompanying instrumental version.

The band also released two music videos from the album: A Life of Un-Delightment and The Steam Rises.

The album is available through their online store.

Abney Park Crowdfunds Their Latest

Abney Park released Ghosts, Demons and Ancient Lore, their first studio album to be funded on Kickstarter. Bandleader Robert Brown described it as a concept album with “tales of restless spirits, malevolent demons, and forgotten legends.”

The album was accompanied by a similarly titled novel, Stories of Ghosts, Demons and Ancient Lore.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, bands that could no longer perform live often turned to virtual concerts to keep their fans engaged. For Abney Park, these online shows were popular enough that the band kept doing them.

They presented six last year, each with a different theme, including “Swashbucklers Soirée” (pirates), “Electroswing Brass Explosion,” featuring a full brass section; and “The End of Days Concert,” in which they performed one of their most popular albums in its entirety.

See their website for more info.

Professor Elemental: In Search of Geoffrey

Professor Elemental and frequent collaborator Tom Caruana had a busy year. In October, the Professor released Screampunk, a Halloween-themed EP with 17 tracks. But their magnum opus came in November with Apequest 2, which continued a storyline from the 2021 album Nemesis.

In the earlier story, the Professor’s orangutan butler Geoffrey moved to a new calling as a constable of time and space. In the new album, the chap hop maestro donned his time travel trousers in an attempt to get Geoffrey back. The album was produced by Caruana and included guest artists Madam Misfit, John Sprocket, the Sweetchunks, and Victor Vector.

The Professor also released a music video from the album, “Friendly Vikings.”

Learn more on his website.

Latest from Madam Misfit

Madam Misfit released her third album, Vitamin M, billed as a “musical rollercoaster of emotions” with nine tracks, including the previously released single “Pay It Forward.” She was joined on one track by Professor Elemental and on another by Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq.

She also crossed the pond for her first-ever U.S. performance, at the Key City Steampunk Convention in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This year, she’s slated to perform at the Wild Wild West Steampunk Convention in Tucson, Arizona.

Learn more on her website.

The Captain Returns

U.K. musician Shaun T. Hunter, who performs as Captain of the Lost Waves, released Beautiful Ugly, his first album since a May 2022 accident that left him with serious injuries. Hunter was in a car with his wife and son when they were hit by a stolen vehicle being chased by police.

He described the new release as “a reflective, healing, contemplative album,” but one created “in a very slow, laboured and somewhat sedate ‘late night fashion’” while he was in rehabilitation.

The album features the Captain on vocals, guitar, mandolin, and bouzouki. He was joined by Damian Clark on keyboards and Wendy Ross on violins.

Fans got their first taste of the album in “Success and Failure,” a single and music video released in March. He described the song as “a nod and an ethos to the often false ‘hand me down ideas’ we carry regarding the notions of success and failure.”

The full album was released in September. It’s available on Bandcamp.

Learn more on his website.

More Tunes from Tom B. Wild

Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq., the “uke-toting, tweed-clad troubadour” from Bedford, U.K., released his fourth album, Carry on While The World Burns. As with his previous efforts, the album delivers catchy, old-timey tunes with humorous takes on culture, politics, and the challenges of everyday life. He was joined by guest artists Tom Carradine, Madam Misfit, Adam Pitt, Charlie Luscombe, and Sam Barrett.

Five of the 12 tracks carry “Explicit Lyrics” warnings, mostly for sprinklings of naughty words. Three tracks were previously released as music videos: “I Could Really Use a Win Today,” “It’s Too Bloody Hot,” and “My Brain Won’t Shut The F**k Up.”

See his website for more info.

Neovenator Makes a Splash

Neovenator, a U.K. band formed in 2021, released their first full-length album, Songs from the End of the Pier. They describe their music as “off-kilter but entertaining English psychedelic-pop.”

We were unfamiliar with their music when they contacted us in November to request editorial coverage. We gave it a listen and soon became fans.

They also released a music video, “Launch Day,” which offers pointed commentary about a certain tech billionaire who was prominently featured in the news last year.

Learn more on their Linktr.ee.

Valentine Wolfe’s Ode to Stoker, Poe, and Brontë

Gothic metal duo Valentine Wolfe released Lost to the Night, which they described as their “darkest, heaviest” album yet, and their favorite. It features 10 tracks inspired by 19th century literature, specifically works by Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, and Emily Brontë.

It’s their first album to be available on vinyl. They funded the production with a Kickstarter campaign that raised $9,368 from 171 backers.

See their website for more info.

More Uncovers from Unwoman

Unwoman released two albums of cover songs. Uncovered Volume 8 has “a big 70s-vs-90s vibe,” she explained, with 15 tracks that include her interpretations of “White Rabbit” (Jefferson Airplane), “Baba O’Riley” (The Who), “Riders on the Storm” (The Doors), “Celebrity Skin” (Hole), “Dreams” (Fleetwood Mac), and “Veteran of the Psychic Wars” (Blue Öyster Cult).

She followed that with Uncovered Volume 9, which she described as an “extra sultry and vibey” release. It opens with “Dollhouse,” originally performed by The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp in the HBO series The Idol. Other tracks include “Love Like Blood” (Killing Joke); “Darkest Dreaming” (David Sylvian); “Nothing Else Matters” (Metallica); “Lips Like Sugar” (Echo & the Bunnymen); and “The Mummer’s Dance” (Lorena McKennitt).

These may be her last “uncovered” releases for a while, as she also announced her departure from Patreon due to recent changes to the service. She produced the covers mostly for her Patreon supporters, and then periodically collected them into albums.

She’s now encouraging fans to subscribe to her music on Bandcamp.

Victor Sierra EP, West Coast Tour

Victor Sierra, the Paris-based “steamgoth” band, released Let Me Be Your Ghost, an EP consisting of four tracks: “The Voodoo Soul,” “The Monsters,” “The Scorpions Sea,” and “The Manifesto.” It’s available for purchase on Bandcamp or you can stream it on Spotify.

They also gave a rare series of performances on the U.S. West Coast, culminating May 4 at San Francisco’s World Goth Day Festival. We were there as well, taking advantage of the opportunity to see Commander Bob and Anouk in person.

The event, presented by The Menagerie Oddities Market, was held aboard the USS Hornet, a WWII-era aircraft carrier that’s now a ship museum in Alameda, California.

Mr. B in the House

Mr. B The Gentleman Rhymer released “The House,” a YouTube music video featuring his own animation created over the previous two years. The music, while undeniably chap hop, includes a string arrangement reminiscent of some Beatles tunes.

To accompany the video, he also released an EP consisting of the original recording plus five remixes, including one each by his alter-egos The Major and Jason Rollbars. It’s available on Bandcamp.

Mark Rossmore Live

Mark Rossmore, who performs as Escape the Clouds, released Live in Concert, his first live album. It features 15 tracks recorded in 2023 at SWFL SteamCon in Cape Coral, Florida.

They include what he describes as “fan favorites” like “Louisiana Sunrise,” “The Boiler Snipes,” and “Mechanical Masquerade,” as well as new tunes slated for a forthcoming studio album.

“This was my farewell-to-Florida show before I moved to the Seattle area, and it was wonderful to be among new and old friends,” he said.

See his website for download links.

Steampunk “Symphonie Fantastique”

Edward Givens, a composer from Oregon released Steampunk Symphony, described as “an oversized ‘Symphonie fantastique’ with a plethora of exotic instruments, musical gadgets, orchestral automatons, and field recordings from a past life.”

The album features six tracks, each with liner notes. It’s available on Bandcamp.

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