Montreal-based retro-futuristic duo Enigmatic Sound Machines (ESM) have unveiled their evocative new single “Haunted,” now available on Youtube and streaming platforms. The track offers a tantalizing preview of their forthcoming third studio album “Imperfect Silence,” due digitally on June 1st, 2025, with a physical release to follow on August 01, 2025.
ESM is the brainchild of childhood friends Jeremie Arrobas and Thomas Szirmay, who share a lifelong passion for music, philosophy, and the arts. Arrobas, a founding member of Men Without Hats, is a pioneer of electronic music and a prolific multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, writer, and producer, with hundreds of creative projects spanning audio, video, and visual arts. Szirmay is a noted Progressive musicologist, producer, actor, and writer, with deep expertise in Progressive Rock, Jazz-Fusion, and Electronic Music, and more than 1600 reviews published on prominent platforms.
On “Imperfect Silence,” ESM expand their progressive soundscape, moving toward a more homogenous, instrumental-driven sonic experience. Across eight full-length tracks, the album explores timely themes of confusion, stress, fear, and the enduring hope for a better future.
The album features an impressive lineup of guest musicians:
Legendary Prog/Fusion bassist Hansford Rowe (Gong, Gongzilla, HR3)
Guitarist Alain Roig
French guitarist Alain Bellaiche (Heldon, Richard Pinhas)
Guitar and saxophone virtuoso Rob Harrison, who also adds flute textures throughout the album.
Reflecting on the single “Haunted,” the band cites its lyrical inspiration as “the distance between here and now… from the house of shadows to the red forest,” evoking a sense of existential mystery and poetic introspection:
“As I walk, wrapped in black, in perfect silence towards the endless beginning, the distance between here and now becomes haunted, from the house of shadows to the red forest, I sing thy praise, hallowed be thy name.” — Red Forest
Watch the video for “Haunted” via the YouTube player below:
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/intl-fr/track/58fsVIG1O3cU7fZqQ1qFLk
Order the album: https://essentials.progrock.com/product/enigmatic-sound-machines-in-perfect-silence/
Lineup:
Thomas Szirmay / Sound Machines, Backing Vocals
Jeremie Arrobas / Keyboards, Synths, Hammond-B3, Piano, Guitars, Synth Bass, Lead Vocals, and Sound Machines
Guest Artists:
Hansford Rowe / Bass
Rob Harrison / Flute & Saxophone
Alain Bellaiche / Guitars
Alain Roig / Guitars