Beyond Goth: VOWWS and the Alchemy of Death-Pop
The two artists at the centre of VOWWS came to their death-pop sound naturally. It can be heard in the music on the band’s new album, I’ll fill your house with an army, as it travels through layers of shadow and melody, anguish, and euphoria. Just don’t call it goth.
“We’re not really big goth rock fans,” singer-guitarist Matt James insists. “Neither of us are big Depeche Mode fans. I know, like, one Depeche Mode record back to front.”
The Australian duo got there by other means, as fanatics for various genres of rock, for movie soundtracks, and the pop avant-garde. they are makers of electronic music with an analog obsession, with feelings and lyrics fueled by tough times as expatriates making a go in the competitive Los Angeles music scene.
“I like a little bit of this and a little bit of that,” adds singer-keyboardist Rizz. “We grew up in the ’90s, we love ’90s grunge, so there’s a lot of that in there. But we also love film scores. He listens to mainly piano music, like Satie-our number one artist on Spotify. It’s pure notes.It’s maybe why it’s hard to define what we sound like because it’s such a mix of things.”
They’ve also attracted some big-name support from the likes of Poppy and members of the Cult, Deftones, A Perfect Circle, Korn, and darkwave godfather Gary Numan. On the road in 2026, VOWWS are set to travel Europe with Kim Dracula through February, play the Sick new World festival in Las Vegas on April 25, followed by several just-announced U.S. dates with Marilyn manson in may.
In performance, they dress in dramatic shades of black, with Rizz’s face painted in vampiric white and black, as movie footage is projected onto the stage. “We always call ourselves, like, happy, sad,” says James of VOWWS’ music. “There’s a lot of feeling in there that’s not bad. We’re not just depressing.”
The creative couple are sitting in colorful wingback chairs at their apartment near the Hollywood Bowl. VOWWS has always been a committed DIY operation, and this is where a lot of their work gets done. There are guitar cases on the floor, a computer station where Rizz edits video, and a large TV screen silently showing a documentary about the Andy Warhol diaries.
Rizz is dark-haired and dressed in a black track suit,lighting another in an endless chain of cigarettes,blowing smoke through the open sliding door behind her. James, blonde and wearing a T-shirt, is having a mixed drink.
The band’s third album was a long time coming. VOWWS were in the middle of writing songs for their follow-up to 2018’s Under the World when the pandemic hit in 2020 and everything stopped. Before then, there had been live performances and gigs creating music for fashion shows by Comme des Garçons and Givenchy around the world. “it just got cut off at the knees,”
On the swirling “SHUDDER,” the band features Korn guitarist Munky, a full-circle moment for Rizz, who spent her adolescence listening to the nu-metal bands Korn and Deftones. “These guys all know each other, so it was all very easy,” she says of the session. “When Munky came to track, Danny [Lohner] came, and it was like a party.”
“We sort of had this little village that all believed in us and believed in our music and got together,” Rizz adds, “and we were like, ‘let’s fucking go!'”
The album’s ominous title, james says, is “just a thing from the subconscious,” which also reflects how many of his lyrics are created. “A lot of the time when I’m writing, I sing gibberish to create a melody. Whatever is in your subconscious frequently enough comes through in a couple of words, and I’ll just go with it.”
while in the past, the duo learned to make every moment count in the studio, howerdel allowed the process to unfold over time. “He’s very thorough,” James explains. “He doesn’t like to leave any stone unturned, just as a matter of course. He might know intellectually that he could probably leave the song as it is, but he chooses to go, ‘Well, let’s try that. Let’s try that, let’s try that.’ He really stopped us in our tracks and asked questions about everything. His personality in a nutshell is just curious, fastidious, and deliberate.”
Since completing the album, VOWWS has recruited drummer Adam Pierce and bassist Stu Brooks into the group. before then, the band had always been the inseparable duo of Rizz and James.
Rizz was born in Costa Rica and emigrated to Australia at age 3 with her Iranian parents. Both she and James grew up in suburban Sydney, but didn’t meet until college. “When I was a teenager, I either wanted to go to film school or music school,” says Rizz, and she ultimately chose music. Her time at the music academy introduced her to other young artists and opened up her creative world.
James and rizz first came to the U.S. with a band called Captain in 2014. The band was already fraying at the edges and broke up not long after arriving. “It’s like when you have a baby to save your marriage: Like, let’s go to America, make a record,” says James.
Rizz and James decided to continue with a new project, and bounced from L.A. to New York, back to Australia, and then made another try in L.A., landing in a small studio apartment in the heart of Hollywo