Allegories Push Forward With A Stark, Spacey New Chapter

Experimental indie electronic duo Allegories return with “Mid-Century Nothing,” a spacey, obstinate, and quietly confrontational fusion of shoegaze and electronic rock that leans into the rawness of imperfection. It marks one of the most decisive steps in their evolution, a track that sits in the push and pull between inner reflection and outward force. The result feels like an unguarded transmission from a project that rarely surfaces in public, let alone in a live setting.

What began as a simple ukulele sketch eventually grew into one of Allegories most dynamic and band-oriented recordings in nearly twenty years. The turning point came not in the studio but in the decision to bring the song to the stage. The pair had kept live performance almost entirely at a distance, which made their choice to take it to a winter festival unusually vulnerable and energizing. In their own words, “It came from our ukulele songs and slowly turned into one of our weirdo electronic tracks. We were about 85 percent of the way through arranging it when we decided to perform it at a winter festival. We don’t play live very often – we’ve only done it twice in the last 10 years. Something about rehearsing and being on stage changes the way we approach the music. This song became more defiant, touched on what’s happening in the world, and ended up way more assertive and confrontational than anything we made in the studio.”

That shift is key to understanding the energy of “Mid-Century Nothing.” Allegories have long thrived in the shadows, shaping and reshaping ideas in private, building dense soundscapes with no expectation of performance. Stepping into rehearsal and stepping onto a stage reframed the track completely. The song hardened. Its edges sharpened. The quiet unease that often defines their work moved into something with more bite. Yet even with its assertive tone, the track never abandons their instinct for subtlety. Allegories keep their confrontational streak understated, letting it simmer beneath waves of texture, melody, and rhythmic repetition.

The reemergence of Allegories as a focused and forward-pushing electronic pop project is striking given their beginnings as a more noise leaning experimental duo. They first took shape in the early 2010s, then slowed their output and slipped into near dormancy, resurfacing only when inspiration demanded it. Over time they gathered influences from across their local scene, especially while DJing house and hip hop nights that opened new pathways into structure, pacing, and the tension between repetition and disruption. Those experiences deepened the rhythmic backbone of their later recordings and widened the palette they now pull from.

By 2014, Allegories had started bridging the gap between eclectic sound design and pop hooks, letting their instinct for experimentation sit beside something more accessible. Their tracks often trick listeners at first pass, presenting themselves as dance forward compositions before unraveling into stranger terrain. What begins as something familiar soon reveals cuts, shifts, and layers that push the songs into new territory. This balance has become one of their signatures.

Their ability to drift between earnestness and abstraction gives their catalog a sense of unpredictability. Some tracks lean into the emotional clarity of an unguarded ballad while others rely on warped samples, shifting tempos, or dream like textures. The blend pulls from IDM, shoegaze, dream pop, and psychedelia, yet their work never settles squarely into any single genre. They prefer the in between spaces, the places where sound feels in motion rather than fixed.

“Mid-Century Nothing” captures all of that history but channels it through a sharpened lens. It reflects a duo that knows exactly how they want to sound right now, confident enough to let rough edges stay visible. It also marks a rare moment where their usually private process intersects with the energy of performance, giving the track a sense of urgency that feels new for them.

With this release, Allegories show that their long, winding evolution has led them to a place where they can be both quiet and forceful, both introspective and outwardly focused. “Mid-Century Nothing” stands as a reminder that reinvention does not always require dramatic gestures. Sometimes it is a single decision to step onto a stage that reshapes everything.