For several years New York City denizens Sharon Shy and Toppy operated as the indie rock/pop outfit The Ropes. The duo have always radiated a mysterious aura, eschewing general promotional methods, including most interviews, with the intent of having their music speak for itself.

Their mysterious M.O. continues with their latest project/off-shoot, R. Missing, a nouvelle vague synthwave exploration that culminates at this moment in time with the new 3-song EP Placeholder for the Night.

Big Takeover is extremely pleased to host the premiere of the EP in full today, on the day of its release.

The duo’s enigmatic presence looms over the music, creating an atmosphere gently fraught with the unknown. The title track is a captivating diffusion of atomized and swirling synths, a strictly smacked drum beat, and Shy’s always-lovely aerial vocal haze. The introduction midway of Motorik-paced electronics stirs up a gritty undercurrent that balances darkly against Shy’s hovering vocals.

Meditative second number “Aims” takes a more sedate and stripped-down approach with its slowly unwinding of sharply echoed percussion and a muted beat. Lightly circling, gleaming acoustic guitar lines enter the mix as Shy sing-talks in a clear and direct tone some pretty spine-chilling lyrics (check out the cycling refrain at song’s end).

Contemplative EP-ender “Darkness, I’ll Always Be Your Girl” is a noir reverie that glows with longing synth notes and Shy’s softly murmured vocals, but also grinds away with reverberating jags of noise and a loping beat, which intensifies in the second half of the track. An urgency enters the sonic flow as Shy mulls over the events experienced during the course of the night and how it has shaped her outlook and actions.

Shy cryptically reveals the intent and result of the record, which channels what can happen during the shadowy hours of darkness – temporally, but also the darkness of the heart and the soul…

“The nighttime finds four new minus signs (like the present day). The nighttime counts five Faraday waves (like in 1831, and better at mathematics). Each little hour is photometry, and it’s all so fast. Sometimes sad. In the end, it’s just a placeholder for the night. In the morning I’ll feel like a fool. I thought it would be darker. This EP. I really thought it would be darker, but the night just passed through. It didn’t want any trouble.”

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