Based in Flensburg, North Germany, Moons in Retrograde is the Nightmare Trip-Pop / Dark Alt-Electro Hyperpop project of US-born musician and multimedia performance artist, Kara Kuckoo.
The new Moons in Retrograde single and video, ‘Mirror Obscura’, is released today (Friday 5 September 2025) for Bandcamp Friday, launching presales for the project’s forthcoming debut album, The Third Side of the Coin.
Discussing the themes behind ‘Mirror Obscura’, Kara says:
“Carl Jung said, “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” Mirror Obscura is about facing one’s own darkness through the infinite mirrors of other people. We tend to avoid and push away that which makes us uncomfortable, and therefore we cannot recognize ourselves within these mirrors. The song is about diving deep into the reflections, embracing one’s own dark side and accepting ourselves and others as flawed in the Mirror Obscura. When we can see ourselves fully, we can recognize all facets as being on a spectrum and not the perceived dualistic nature, which is the theme of The Third Side of The Coin. The video portrays the perceived duality of black and white and the madness within us as we avoid our own darkness. The elements of color are glimpses into the spectrum of wholeness. I especially wanted to shoot at sunrise because those moments of dusk and dawn are the magical spaces between day/light and night/dark, and the reflections of color and shadow dancing on the surface of the vast and deep ocean are the perfect representation of The Mirror Obscura.”
Performing as Moons in Retrograde since 2022, Kara Kuckoo is not only a musician but a theatrical multimedia installation artist, using costuming, staging, body-paint, dance, film and other media to create the dark and unsettling atmosphere of her online videos and unique performances.
Citing vast-ranging references to everyone from Heilung, IAMX, NIN, and The Birthday Massacre, Kara says: “Moons in Retrograde is about digging up and reflecting on buried emotions. Just like the moon, everyone and everything has a dark side and MIR dives into the dualistic nature of the universe and explores the tension of these two opposing forces. The music plays a tug of war between the perfection of universal chaos, the violent nature of life and an idealistic desire to bridge the growing gap in our polarized society. MIR weaves a soundscape which shines a light into the deepest corners of the mind and exposes the truth about the dark side of humanity while simultaneously discovering the core of the human soul.”
In the US, Kara’s previous music projects included prominent dark electro-industrial rock band In Winter, formed in her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio in 2003. Quickly becoming local favourites in the dark alternative scene, In Winter opened for The Birthday Massacre, Wednesday 13, The Genitorturers and others, and released one album, Murmur, in 2005, before Kara left the group the following year. She next embarked on the All Hamerican Tour (2006) as a backing vocalist with <PIG>, before relocating to Las Vegas, Nevada. In Vegas, Kara and MC / producer Kielen King formed the dark trip-hop / ambient / downtempo duo, Azure Noir in 2007. Officially, Azure Noir disbanded in 2009 when Kara moved to Germany. However, Kara and King have continued to collaborate, with singles being released in 2010 and 2012, and murmurs about releasing new music together in the near future.
‘Mirror Obscura’, the new single and video from Moons in Retrograde, is out now: streaming from Spotify and all the usual outlets, and as a digital download from Bandcamp with all presales for Third Side of the Coin. The debut album is scheduled for release in “double EP” format on 20 October 2025.
Find / follow Moons in Retrograde:
Spotify – Instagram – YouTube – Facebook