ZACHERY ALLAN STARKEY

FORCE and FEAR CITY are taken from Starkey's critically acclaimed album, FEAR CITY, while new singles NO TEXTING ON THE DANCE FLOOR and SOLITAIRE will appeare on a new expanded vesion of Starkey's FEAR CITY LP,  which also features the singles XXX, NO SECURITY, "BRIGHT FUTURE" and FALLOUT.  Critics have compared Starkey’s contemporary, forward thinking songwriting and production to the work of electronic pioneers Giorgio Moroder and Patrick Cowley, the early work of New Order, and the lyrical work of Lou Reed.

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PRESS

 

"Zachery Allan Starkey Combines With New Order's Bernard Sumner On 'Force'. It's an electro-tinged piece of dark-pop... 'Force' pushes Zachery Allan Starkey's music into a fresh space, with Bernard Sumner's inimitable contribution opening a fresh chapter...There's an organic touch to Starkey's  brand of synthetic pop, with the digital clouds parting to reveal some spectacular sonic landscapes. Take new single 'Force'. The barbed electronics are utilized to build Starkey's unique pop vision, one augmented by one of his heroes.....A brilliant partnership."

-CLASH 

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"New York-based DIY darkwaver Zachery Allan Starkey has shared the video for his new track "Force," featuring Bernard Sumner (New Order, Joy Division), off of his upcoming LP, Fear City, due out April 2020 via Starkey's own label DEATHTRIP NYC, and we are pleased to premiere it. The propulsive beat and jagged rhythms leap and reflect off of stacked synth chords and a commanding vocal hook. The video features scenes from contemporary New York as it currently undergoes lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic."

-UNDER THE RADAR 

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"Dramatic synthpop with more than an early touch of New Order."

-THE TIMES UK

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“Starkey’s new single, ‘No Texting On the Dance Floor’, is a groove-ridden effort that evokes all the arm-raising energy of a night out, a testament to the joys of inhibition-free connection.”

- WONDERLAND / ROLLACOASTER MAGAZINE

 

“NYC-based composer and producer Zachery Allan Starkey’s groovy new single, ‘No Texting on the Dance Floor’, uses electro-infused disco house sonics to capture New York’s hedonistic nightlife renaissance, and alarming crime wave, while maintaining an infectious rhythm that has us dancing along. The synth-led number brings his trademark techno style with hook-laden pop feels, carried by his smooth vocals.”

- Earmilk

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"Starkey’s XXX symphonically sweeps the sonic landscape with pure hedonistic ecstasy, delving deep into a sensual narrative painted neon by its New York influences...soaring melodies and pounding drums and percussion for a sublime dynamism that's unforgettable." 

-EARMILK

 

“Starkey’s NO SECURITY is a sonic hardware assault, capturing the paranoia and instability of the current era while casting a hypnotic spell over the dance floor...we were instantly lured in by it's timely chaos."

 -THE BRVTALIST

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"Zachery Allan Starkey's nightmarish NO SECURITY is a dystopian anthem. Starkey has made a name for himself during the course of his wild DIY trajectory, from his working-class roots to transforming the sound landscape of Brooklyn. No stranger to the socio-political fallout himself, ZAS has brought an authentic punk rage to the techno scene, infusing his electro-industrial tinged bangers with deeply biting social commentary. Taking lyrical cues from artists like Public Image Ltd, Fad Gadget, NIN and Lou Reed, Zachery Allan Starkey is out for blood."

-POST-PUNK MAGAZINE

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"Dark techno artist Zachery Allan Starkey is a staple of the Bushwick, NYC electronic scene, creating vibrant and adventurous dance music with synthesizers and drum machines." 

-MXDWN

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"Starkey has created a dynamic club track for this new 21st century dystopia that blends the essences of Giorgio Moroder and Patrick Crowley with a bit of Logan’s Run and Blade Runner thrown in there...... XXX in this emerging context suddenly invokes a blurring memory of a fading, sexier New York. (Indeed, at least one of the seedy establishments featured in the video has already sailed off to Valhalla.) Remember these times, for it is truly the end of an era, sealed with an XXX."

--POST-PUNK MAGAZINE

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"Composed, performed, and produced by Starkey, "XXX " is a symphonic Techno odyssey that plunges the listener deep into the pure hedonistic ecstasy of New York City nightlife, taking them on a sensual journey from the heart of the dance floor to the pleasure and climax that only the neon lit city of night can offer. Using analogue synthesizers and intricate arrangements, Starkey creates a throbbing, pulsing arpeggiated Techno bass line, then adds soaring lead melodies and pounding drums and percussion (inspired by the sound of the New York subway system), creating a a dynamic club track that brings to mind the best work of electronic pioneers Giorgio Moroder and Patrick Cowley, whilst pushing the track firmly into the future."

-BROADWAY WORLD

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"Songwriter-producer Zachery Allan Starkey is a regular fixture at NYC clubs and shows and you may have seen him opening for New Order on their Music Complete tour. His new album, Fear City, is out later this year — New Order’s Bernard Sumner is on two tracks — and he’s just released this clubby single, NO SECURITY."

-BROOKLYN VEGAN

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"Zachery Allan Starkey's HARD POWER is terrifying and unlike anything we've ever heard."

-VICE 

 

"Starkey's Black Angel is pulsing and dark HI-NRG meets Synthwave  with a taut bassline that evokes something culled from the best archives of Daniel Miller’s Mute Records."

-Post-Punk Magazine

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"Zachery Allan Starkey (ZGRT)'s new single Connection is a gorgeous, uplifting House anthem.  In Starkey's New York, a nighttime adventure hides in the dark corners of the club. The dance floor is elation, but the shadows hold the key to nightlife nirvana. This is one of the best club tracks of 2017."

- PASTE Magazine  

 

"(New Order's show at Radio City Music Hall began with a 50-minute set by Brooklyn, New York-based musician Zachery Allan Starkey, who recently released HARD POWER. Starkey was joined on the massive Radio City stage by his band as ZGRT. His songs, which sound something like a heavy-duty cross between The Human League and latter-day Gary Numan, had quite a few people in the crowd dancing. They left the stage to cheers from the crowd and with their instruments still roaring with feedback. It was a very effective exit. They were good and definitely worth checking out."

-Goldmine Magazine, March 2016 (live review at Radio City Music Hall with New Order)

 

“Starkey's HARD POWER is a narrative of an all-seeing Nanny-State Government, a hard-wired update of the time Prince looked around, saw the shit happening in the late 80’s and made a wake-up phone call to himself and his people that became “Sign O’ The Times”. It’s usually difficult to say a Zachery Allan Starkey composition is “angry” because 1) he has a weird sense of humor, which is evident if you’ve ever seen a show or listened to his music 2) “anger” is a very one-sided emotion, but “Hard Power” is angry and fierce in a way nothing he’s released before is...produced by Starkey with DFA stalwart Gavin Russom (of LCD Soundsystem), HARD POWER is an iron fist to the leather driving glove of ZAS."

-Brightest Young Things

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"Combining the vitriol of Public Image Limited with the dance edge of LCD Soundsystem, and always clad in black leather, Zachery Allan Starkey cuts a unique figure in the Brooklyn scene with his unique 21st century fusion of music."

- God Is in the TV

 

"Combining Darkwave synths with Gary Numan-esque vocals, Zachery Allan Starkey’s newest single, “Into the Sun,” paints personal loss in simple poetic strokes that feel prescient".

- The New York Times

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