Futurecop! - Return to Alvograth

Futurecop!
Return to Alvograth
2017
Spotify

It is not often a record really takes me by surprise anymore. I can kind of expect what I am going to get based on digging around and a few cursory listens before I really dive in to an album. Well, I was not prepared for Futurecop! nor was I prepared for Return to Alvograth. Looking at the album cover you would expect, I don't know, a fantasy novel rather than an album? Perhaps Coheed and Cambria have picked up their old story line? But instead you are treated to these epically synthy soundscapes taking you on a journey through space, time and everything else. Their aesthetic has always been very 80s and you can see it clearly in their album art as well as in their sound. However they never settle for simple nostalgia, they push the sound forward and bring the memories with them, never making it the central focus. Breathy vocals are used occasionally but they are always distant, somewhat just out of reach. Return to Alvograth is not just limited to soundscapes though on "Into the Darkness" they really break it down and give you this super deep dance track pulsing away. A lot of times with synthwave music you'll find that producers get so bogged down in creating this aggressively synthy vibe but in doing so they become to technical for their own good. A band like S U R V I V E make some great tunes but it is so specific that you'd never find yourself adding it to one of your standard playlists, but Futurecop! manage to keep a pop sensibility just under the surface.

You can almost see the VCR fuzz as Futurecop! unravels whatever sci-fi fantasy tale they are trying to weave. "Books of Averroes" really pushes the tempo with this skittery yet concise track that is always moving. One of the great things Futurecop! does is not linger for too long. A lot of these synthwave tracks can go on and on with the same sounds but Futurecop! get in and out cutting off the song just before it was about to get old. It is a little tough to pick up the narrative, if there is one, so you are more or less left to put your own story into the music. The transcendent moments just feel incredibly special like the opening of "Nariyeh Thanei", the albums closer, where this simple line just blooms into fantastic track all driven by a piano. They aren't trying to make music for movies, but you can just envision it so easily. The one problem with music without lyrics is you are pretty much on your own trying to figure out a meaning, but maybe that is what makes it special and unique. A great surprise and a really fantastic record do not miss Return to Alvograth.

8.3 out of 10