There is a specific static in the air just before 1 a.m. in a good club. It is a palpable humidity, born of fog machines, spilled vodka, and the collective, anticipatory energy of a room full of people dressed in their nocturnal armor. We go to these spaces—these darkened, thrumming sanctuaries—to be lost and found, to dance out the thousand tiny abrasions of the mundane world. We go there to break the spells of expectation, of conformity, of the 9-to-5 assimilation that feels like a slow-acting poison.

We also, as a community, cast spells of our own. We are curators, taxonomists of the dark. We draw sharp, protective lines around our genres. This is Goth. This is Darkwave. This is Industrial. And this, we say, is Cabaret. This is Steampunk. We create boxes, and for years, Frenchy and the Punk have existed in a beautifully ornate box, one that sat just adjacent to the dance floor I have inhabited.

With their new single, ‘Not Under Your Spell,’ that box has been decisively shattered. Released with pointed symbolism on our high holiday of Halloween, October 31, 2025, the track is a jolt of pure, defiant energy. It is the title track of their forthcoming album and their debut release on the venerable Dist0rtion Productions label.

This song is more than a single; it is a declaration of intent, a sonic manifesto. It marks the final, thrilling culmination of a metamorphosis that has been a decade in the making—the shedding of a whimsical, “steampunk-adjacent” chrysalis to reveal the lean, muscular, and “feral” post-punk creature that was always waiting underneath.

Ghosts of the Cabaret, Blood of the Hardcore

The power of this new, defiant sound is rooted in the “spell” that had to be broken. The New York-based duo is a study in synthesis, a living embodiment of their name. On one side, there is Samantha “Frenchy” Stephenson, the French-born vocalist, percussionist, and keyboardist, who brings a background in dance, piano, sculpture, and visual art to the stage.

On the other, there is Scott “The Punk” Helland, the American guitarist, who is nothing less than hardcore punk royalty. Helland was a founding member of the legendary Deep Wound, the western Massachusetts band he formed with J Mascis and Lou Barlow, who would, of course, go on to create Dinosaur Jr..

This inherent tension—the studied, European art-house and the raw, ‘80s American hardcore scene—has always been the engine of their creativity. When they first formed in 2005, they were known as The Gypsy Nomads, a name that perfectly captured their early “dark cabaret with a folk punk” sound. They toured the convention circuit relentlessly, becoming “the ‘jewel of the steampunk scene’” and a beloved fixture at faerie festivals and renaissance faires.

Their albums from that era, like 2010’s ‘Happy Madness’ and 2012’s ‘Hey Hey Cabaret,’ were defined by this “rollicking flapper folk punk” energy, built on acoustic guitars and whimsical, “pixie spirited” theatricality.

But this new single is not a sudden pivot; it is the destination of a long and patient journey. If you trace their discography, their catalog over the 2010s shows a clear, gradual shift away from material bordering on acoustic and a steady lean into a more potent dark alternative and post-punk sound.

This evolution is not merely a personal artistic choice, but a canny and authentic navigation of the subculture’s own changing tides. The steampunk musical scene, which peaked in the early 2010s, has receded, while a massive darkwave and post-punk revival has become the dominant sound in the underground.

Frenchy and the Punk have evolved with the community, ensuring their relevance by moving from an adjacent niche to the very center of the current dark music conversation.

A Metronome Set to Rebellion

‘Not Under Your Spell’ is the sonic proof of this arrival. The track does not fade in; it begins with a jolt. The sound is physical, immediate. The beat, sharp and deliberate, lands like a boot on a floorboard. This is the sound of industrial resolve, a world away from a rollicking folk tune.

Helland’s guitar is unrecognizable from his acoustic past; it is a driving, lean, tense, and propulsive post-punk riff that sears through the rhythm. Behind it, a synth line flickers like a fuse, ticking with the precision of a metronome set to rebellion.

Then, there is the transformation in Stephenson’s voice. She commands the microphone like a general addressing her legion of survivors. This is not the crooning cabaret performer of their past. This is a voice of authority and conviction. When she delivers the song’s central, defiant message of perseverance through struggle, it is not a piece of gentle advice; it is a rallying cry hurled at the abyss.

In a time defined by widespread disillusionment and fatigue, this track is a potent antidote to get us moving. It is a commandment in its brilliance. In our subculture, the dance floor is not frivolous; it is a primary, often solitary, form of communal exorcism. The song’s genius is its seamless fusion of lyrical theme (defiance) with sonic function (danceability). It does not just tell you to resist; its infectious beats and relentless motion make your body do it.

Filmed in the Feral City

This manifesto is reinforced by the single’s accompanying music video. The credits alone speak volumes: Shot on location in New York City, Filmed and Directed by Frenchy and the Punk, and Edited by Samantha Stephenson. This is not a high-gloss, high-budget production. This is the hands-on, do-it-yourself ethic of their 1980s hardcore pedigree and Stephenson’s visual art background. It is the antithesis of a band waiting for permission.

The choice of New York City as the setting is critical. This is not the fantastical, sepia-toned, alternate-reality Victoriana of the steampunk aesthetic. This is the feral, concrete, and graffiti-scarred landscape of the real. It is the birthplace of American punk and the duo’s home base.

Frenchy and the Punk visually sever ties with the aesthetics of escapism by filming themselves, do-it-yourself style, against this stark urban backdrop. They are grounding their new sound in the confrontational, authentic ethos of their post-punk lineage. It is a powerful visual shift from fantasy to reality.

The Anointing of the Night

As someone who has inhabited this scene for decades, I have watched Frenchy and the Punk from the periphery. They were the fun band on the bill at the faerie festival, the captivating sound coming from the steampunk convention in the hotel next door. Their energy was undeniable, but their sound, for a time, felt adjacent. They were the band that bridged worlds, sharing stages with dark cabaret and steampunk royalty like Rasputina, Aurelio Voltaire, and The Dresden Dolls’ Brian Viglione.

But the “punk” in their name was always a promise. That dual citizenship is their secret weapon. This new single, with its driving guitar and distinct echoes of the Siouxsie playbook, finally resolves that tension. This is music that is in direct, exhilarating conversation with their foundational influences: Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, and the chaotic, theatrical punk of The Damned.

‘Not Under Your Spell’ is the track that makes them make sense on my personal playlist, slotted perfectly between SiouOsie’s ‘Spellbound’ and The Damned’s ‘New Rose.’ This is the song that will get played at one in the morning at any goth night in the country, and the floor will fill.

This is the sound of them walking out of the daylight of the faerie circle and into the sanctified, strobe-lit darkness of the club. And their years of high-energy theatrical spectacle and dance-trained stagecraft give them a live presence that is infinitely more compelling than many of the static, laptop-gazing darkwave acts of the moment.

A New Allegiance

The subculture’s institutions have formally recognized this arrival. The band’s new home, Dist0rtion Productions, is a respected darkwave and industrial label. This signing was not a cold call; it was a direct result of their rousing performance at Dark Force Fest 2025.

Label owner Jim Semonik was introduced to them and was immediately sold on their evolved sound and authentic energy. His validation—It is a natural fit—is the sound of a formal anointing. For a band with deep roots in an adjacent scene, this is a rite of passage. It is the scene’s gatekeepers signaling to the wider community: They are one of us.

The single ‘Not Under Your Spell’ is the title track from their forthcoming full-length album, which will be released by Dist0rtion Productions. While a full tracklist is not yet public, the single is available to stream and purchase now on Bandcamp and all major digital platforms.

This new, rebellious and cathartic sound demands a live witness. The band announced a string of dates, which began with a perfectly symbolic ritual: a Halloween night show on October 31st at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The choice of opening act, Architrave, was a crucial piece of curatorial signaling.

Architrave is a synth-pop project explicitly informed by darkwave, 1980s new-wave, and post-punk bass-lines. This was a pure-genre billing, a far cry from a steampunk convention, and a clear signal of their new sonic home. This was followed by an appearance at the Secrets of the Dead Film Fest in Brooklyn on November 1st.

Upcoming appearances will bridge their worlds, including the Fairy Scary Ball in Towson, Maryland, on November 15th. They are not abandoning their past; they are bringing their old fans with them into their new territory.

The air in the club is still thick with fog, the beat still pounding. But the “spell” of expectation has been definitively broken. The box we put Frenchy and the Punk in, the one marked cabaret or steampunk, has been shattered by the jolt of this new sound.

The duo, defined for so long by their authentic duality, has finally alchemized their disparate pasts—1980s hardcore and French art-dance—into a single, propulsive, and vital now. ‘Not Under YourSpell’ is more than a single. It is the antidote to our own fatigue, a commandment to dance through the fire. And as that beat lands, sharp and deliberate as a boot on a floorboard, we are all, finally, moving.

When you listen to ‘Not Under YourSpell,’ what “spell” do you feel it breaking in your own life?