Joy Electric

    Joy Electric

    Orange County, California35 reviews across 16 releases

    electronicelectronicaindie popsynth pop
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    Joy Electric was an Orange County, California electronic-pop project that Ronnie Martin began in 1994 after Dance House Children, the group he had made with his brother Jason Martin. It started as a solo outlet, pairing light, airy vocals with simple melodies and wholly synthetic accompaniment. The early records drew on British 1980s synth pop while retaining a bright, game-like surface: bleeps and bloops, catchy hooks, fairy-tale images and direct Christian language could occupy the same song. On Five Stars For Failure, Martin also allowed room for polka, house and a darkly melancholic dirge. With We Are The Music Makers, he rebuilt every sound from scratch on analog synthesizers, imposing a stricter electronic purity. Later work grew moodier and more atmospheric before Hello, Mannequin returned to brisker dance-pop without abandoning the project's odd subjects or handmade electronic texture.

    Jeff Cloud became an official member in 1997, after first working as Joy Electric's manager and keyboardist, and remained until 2002. Martin then continued the name largely as a one-man project, moving from BEC Recordings back to Tooth & Nail Records, with a release on his own Plastiq Musiq label. The 2004 EP Friend of Mannequin treated the concurrent Hello, Mannequin as material for committed followers rather than a starting point. Joy Electric ended in 2012, when Martin entered seminary and moved into full-time pastoral ministry. He later resumed recording under his own name, releasing new music in 2021 after describing the change as a fresh start rather than a continuation of Joy Electric. Cloud continued his work with Starflyer 59 and Velvet Blue Music.

    16 releases reviewed