Channelling your melancholy into eleven catchy songs can be a complex undertaking, but Future Generations seem to have nailed it with their debut album Landscape.
The New York based five-piece may have written their songs in the concrete jungle, but every track transports you directly to the sun drenched beaches of the LA coast. This is an album made for the synth obsessed dreamy pop lovers and for those finding it hard to let go of those last sunny days.
Opening track ‘Stranger’, sets the tone for the whole record. There’s no hesitation that this is a band who know their sound and are confident in experiment with the weird and wonderful meaning of the word ‘dreamy’.
Lead singer Eddie Gore wraps his robotically hypnotising tones around drum beats that will have you swaying like you were at a high school disco in the 80s. Listen closely to tracks ‘Caught Me By Surprise’and ‘Hurry Home’, where you’ll hear Eddie’s voice sound eerily reminiscent of an early Julian Casablancas.
What this album also does brilliantly, is give all of the band’s instrumentalists an opportunity to shine. Percussions, guitar, bass and synthesizer are all given a share of every song. As a result, every song is rubber stamped with an individuality which can sometimes be missing from pop records, leaving them devoid of character and often ending up with every song sounding the same.
The album is produced by Justin Gerrish (Vampire Weekend, Hamilton Leithauser), so there’s a real emphasis on catchy guitar chords, upbeat and sunny sounding work. It’s a formula that has worked well for him and which will work well for Future Generations. This is the type of music that falls nicely on the ear and can sit as well on a party playlist as it can on an advert for the latest must have gadget. Basically, it has good commercial appeal.
Like most pop music, the inspiration for each track comes from the lived intimate experiences of Gore, and having him pour his heart out whilst I sang along to most songs was a lovely experience.
Standout tracks on the album are without a doubt title track ‘Landscape’, ‘All The Same’, ‘Out Loud’ and ‘Hurry Home’. They’ve got a good piece of work here, now the band just have to make sure they’re seen and not just heard.
