A heavy cloud of pessimism hangs over 'I Thought The Future Would Be Cooler', the sixth album from LA synth duo YACHT. Notwithstanding the abject disappointment captured in the ponderous funk and strings of the Blondie-esque title track, opening cut 'Miles & Miles' starts with a lengthy section full of depressing epithets about the pointlessness of human existence.
Fortunately, such themes are kicked squarely into touch by the sharp, upbeat pop gloss and thudding groove with which 'Miles & Miles' then proceeds, singer Claire Evans taking on a euphoric edge that leaves any notion of miserablism far behind. The rest of the album then proceeds through a litany of diverse pop reference points with an occasionally discofied !!! edge, mixed with lyrical themes covering metaphorical reflections, mobile phones, post-feminism, the plastic nature of Los Angeles and your usual messages of love and longing. Few would dare to wrap such a message in a track with a title like 'I Wanna Fuck You Till I'm Dead'.
YACHT have consciously positioned themselves as intelligent conceptualists, not wanting to adhere to what's expected of them, and that makes for an interesting amalgam of deep themes set to brazenly outlandish pop styles. Highlights like 'War On Women' or the Madonna-y sheen of 'The Entertainment' carry a distinctive, naggingly insistent quality as they deliver serious messages wrapped in well-manufactured clothing stitched together from all sorts of disparate materials. At other points, you are occasionally left wondering if this isn't just one huge pop-art prank. Perhaps the whole album, title and all, is itself an intentionally oblique statement on the weird throw-it-all-at-the-wall state of disposable pop music here in 2015.
6/10
Words: Mat Smith
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