Korine’s A Flame in the Dark, dropped on March 28, 2025, via Born Losers Records. It’s a synth-pop release built on contrasts: driving beats with heavy-hearted themes, catchy melodies with lyrics that spiral into anxiety, detachment, and acceptance.
The Philadelphia-based duo—Morgy Ramone and Trey Frye—have leaned further into the dichotomy they’ve been shaping since their early releases, pushing their ‘dark pop’ sound into a tighter, colder space.
Ramone and Frye don’t overcomplicate things here. The album runs eight tracks long and keeps a consistent tone of emotional unease, even when it dips into danceable territory.
The full-length plays like a journal of quiet collapses and lucid moments of resignation. “This song explores the freedom of giving up,” they say of Twist the Knife, a late-album highlight. “Letting go of all attachments and looking at the world for how it is. Embracing insignificance and personal truth like an impenetrable armor.”
Elsewhere, the band calls Anhedonia a “depressive post-punk anthem, swirling with the woes of the world,” while The Line tackles the moment when slipping into unreality becomes a real threat—“a dramatic and layered piece about going over the edge of sanity.”
The mood doesn’t shift much, but each track carves out a distinct space. Blue Star is “a dark and moody track that evokes a moonlit walk to nowhere,” and Pay the Price feels like “a night full of drama and fantasy,” looping through memory until it starts to blur. Even the opener, Screaming in the Night, despite its bounce, slips in “creepy and opaque lyrics suggesting dissatisfaction within—and beyond.”
The new Korine is about circling the edge, recognizing it, and sometimes leaning into the fall. “The pain of life is of no consequence to someone who’s accepted their fate,” they explain on Twist the Knife. That mindset pulses through the entire album.
A Flame in the Dark is available now on LP (Dark Transparent Orange/Black Splatter and Black/Blue Swirl), cassette, and CD formats. Korine are also heading out on a North American tour with labelmate Johnny Dynamite, beginning April 18 in Philadelphia and running through May 19 in Washington, DC.
Read full track-by-track commentary below.
Screaming In The Night
A bouncy romp with creepy and opaque lyrics suggesting dissatisfaction within— and beyond.
The Line
A dramatic and layered piece about going over the edge of sanity, reality, unsure if one could make it back.
Anhedonia
A depressive post-punk anthem, swirling with the woes of the world. An addictive riff accentuating feelings of general malaise and dissatisfaction. A fantasy of turning disgust into love like alchemy with sound.
Blue Star
A dark and moody track that evokes a moonlit walk to nowhere. Looking back at the past like a broken keepsake. Each moment being like a distorted and frightening version of a life remembered. All that’s left the pain and a burning star like a beacon to oblivion.
No Turning Back
Like a fond memory passing by in a wave of warm and sad feelings. This track changes and evolves leading to a great crescendo.
Twist The Knife
This song explores the freedom of giving up. Letting go of all attachments and looking at the world for how it is. Embracing insignificance and personal truth like an impenetrable armor. The pain of life is of no consequence to someone who’s accepted their fate.
Pay The Price
A song that sounds like a night full of drama and fantasy—a reflecting pool all swirling together with memory and acceptance.
In Your Eyes
Like the ending credits to a movie– this song sounds like a grand finale. Equal parts romantic and scary with an addictive chorus.
KORINE TOUR DATES
4.18 Philadelphia PA – Johnny Brendas
4.19 Brooklyn NY – Elsewhere
4.20 Providence RI – Askew
4.21 Syracuse NY – Song & Dance
4.22 Toronto ON – Baby G
4.23 Pittsburgh PA – Bottle Rocket
4.24 Detroit MI – Smalls
4.25 Chicago IL – Schubas
4.26 Minneapolis MN – Cloudland
4.28 Kansas City MO – Record Bar
4.29 Denver CO – Hi Dive
4.30 Salt Lake City UT – International
5.02 Seattle WA – Central Saloon
5.03 Portland OR – Mississippi Studios
5.05 Sacramento CA – Starlet Room
5.06 San Francisco CA – Bottom of the Hill
5.07 Los Angeles CA – Echo
5.08 Santa Ana CA – Constellation Room
5.09 San Diego CA – Voodoo Room
5.10 Phoenix AZ – Valley Bar
5.12 Denton TX – Rubber Gloves
5.13 Austin TX – Empire Control Room
5.14 New Orleans LA – Siberia
5.15 Tampa FL – New World Music Hall
5.16 Orlando FL – Will’s Pub
5.17 Atlanta GA – 529
5.18 Raleigh NC – Pour House
5.19 Washington DC – Song Byrd
All dates w/ Johnny Dynamite
