Com Truise - Iteration

Com Truise
Iteration
2017
Spotify

Com Truise is quite interesting. Many producers play around with 80s inspired synth sounds in their music, banking on a nostalgia element, but few buy in so completely as Com Truise. Iteration is soaked in the darker side of 80s music, creating these complex songs that rely just as heavy on a synthetic feel as much as an inspired one. S U R V I V E would probably be the closest comparison here but where they fully embrace the darkness there are more times where it seems like Seth Haley is trying to push the brighter aspects forward. Song structure however is much more of the focus on Iteration than on previous releases. This album is just not about using the sounds of the 80s, but ensuring those sounds shine in songs meant for 2017. The palate though is very limited. You can see the neon and the teased hair with each passing track but that same aesthetic puts Haley in a bit of a box that it is hard to get out of. Songs like "Dryswch" and "Isostacy" even verge close to pop singles if you squint you eyes but still maintain the heart of what Com Truise does. These two tracks in particular show that this music can be blended into something different and does not always have to have that dark brooding vibe that it usually seems to settle on.

"Memory" is also another standout sliding into this really great groove then giving you this real burst of sound in the middle. This is really the most pleasing this synth music has sounded since the 80s, and some of the most complex. While S U R V I V E is great at creating this more deep emotion, namely fear, Com Truise pushes further and finds even more. One of the issues with this record however is the almost 50 minute runtime. There are moments where the very specific set of sounds for this album begin to feel like a bit much and it takes something bold to shake you out of a synthy fog. "Ternary" has one of the moments where the opening feels like so much of the same but then this ethereal fog comes in and saves the track turning it into this wild almost slowjam. With real moments of greatness but a few times where the music can become overly repetitive Iteration is a step in the right direction for Com Truise. Now just to see where the next album takes him.

7.5 out of 10