Over the past decade, Empathy Test has evolved from complete obscurity to become one of the best-known and loved bands in the UK, German and American alternative electronic music scenes, with listeners all around the world. 

 

Empathy Test’s unique brand of cinematic, analogue synthesizer-enthused pop has been hailed by the UK’s Clash Magazine as “gorgeous”, by USA’s KCRW as both “nostalgic and immediate”, and by Culture Club’s Boy George as “a musical orgasm”.

 

As well as Boy George, Empathy Test also count Rusty Egan (Rich Kids, Visage), Midge Ure (Thin Lizzy, Ultravox), Republica’s Saffron Sprackling and Spanish actress Ester Exposito (Elite) among their fans.

 

Empathy Test's stunning debut single, Losing Touch, taken from the 2014 EP of the same name, has had over seven million streams on Spotify. Losing Touch first gained international recognition when it appeared in visual artist and animator Richard Swarbrick’s viral video celebrating Liverpool Football Club’s 2013/14 season. The animated video picked up over 270K views and was shown on the team’s official TV channel.

 

Swarbrick went on to use a second Empathy Test track, Kirrilee, as the soundtrack for another viral video The Cats of YouTube. A third, Last Night on Earth, soundtracked a series of videos commissioned by ESPN for the NBA Finals in the USA. 

 

In early 2015, Here is the Place, from the band’s second EP Throwing Stones, appeared in an episode of MTV’s Catfish, a show about people creating fake identities online. Catfish brought the band further recognition in North America and around the world, and the show has been rebroadcast in multiple countries almost constantly since then. 

 

In 2017, using the now defunct PledgeMusic platform, Empathy Test successfully crowdfunded the self-release of not one, but two debut albums, Losing Touch (Remastered) and Safe From Harm. The crowdfunder was 100% funded in just 10 hours and finished up 661% funded, allowing the band to press the two albums on CD and vinyl. The two albums were given a “legendary” 10/10 by Brutal Resonance, and 10/10 and 9/10 respectively, by Elektroskull. 

 

In 2020, once again harnessing the power of their rapidly growing and loyal fanbase, Empathy Test crowdfunded their third album, Monsters, via IndieGoGo. This time, the project was fully-funded in just 20 minutes, eventually finishing up 667% funded. The album was warmly received by fans and critics alike. Brutal Resonance gave Monsters 9/10, as did Release Magazine, while ReGen Magazine focused on its "production value, lyrics, and overall musicianship" and Swedish website Hymn praised their "timelessly melancholy melodies".

 

Despite not having a record label (the band has turned down offers from many of the big labels in the scene, in favour of doing things their own way), Empathy Test are an attractive proposition for CD and vinyl collectors alike. Their short runs of consistently high-quality Digipak CDs, limited edition colour vinyl LPs, and picture discs, invariably sell out. You will see their limited 7" singles with asking prices of up to $100 on Discogs. 

 

Before September 2023, when they signed a physical distribution deal with SPKR, Empathy Test had sold over 4,000 12” vinyl and over 6,000 CD albums, without any formal distribution. On Spotify, Monsters has had upwards of 3.4m streams, Losing Touch (Remastered) 4.8m, and Safe From Harm, 1.9m.

 

Aside from consistently releasing high-quality music, Empathy Test has toured as main support for the likes of VNV Nation, Covenant, Mesh and Aesthetic Perfection. They have also appeared at multiple alternative music festivals such as Wave Gotik Treffen, Mera Luna, Amphi, Plage Noire and NCN in Germany, Liverpool Sound City, Infest and Resistanz in the UK, and Winter Waves, Electrixmas and Subkultfestivalen in Sweden. They have also embarked on successful headline tours of the USA, Germany, France, and UK. 

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Empathy Test is: Isaac Howlett (vocals / songwriting) and Adam Relf (production, composition). They currently perform live with the help of David Leisser on drums and Nadine Green on keyboards and are represented by Pluswelt Promotions for booking.