The Big Pink : Future This

<img src="http://www.qromag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/thebigpinkfuturethis.jpg" alt="The Big Pink : Future This" /><br /> The Big Pink's <span>sophomore release is a severe let down following the promise of their melancholic 2009 debut <i>A...
The Big Pink : Future This
5.6 4AD
2012 

The Big Pink : Future This The British duo’s sophomore release is a severe let down following the promise of their melancholic 2009 debut A Brief History of Love (QRO review).  Their hit single “Dominos” was one of the top songs of that year, and the album was impressive too.  Future This still has the noteworthy singles, but the album is primarily made up of ‘filler’ and lyrical banality.  This time, Furze and Cordell have opted for an even denser sound, more gadgets, slicker production and a more upbeat feel.  With more buttons to press and a newfound love of Ableton, the band has gone awry in the song-writing department.  The vocals are refined, the beats tighter and the effects sonically captivating.  Still, the songs fall short.  Simply, this record is a good example of when ‘more is less’. 

The album starts off promisingly with the two singles “Stay Gold” and “Hit the Ground (Superman)”.  Both are radio-friendly, catchy electro-pop tunes, and are interesting enough in themselves.  Nevertheless, both are undeniably reincarnations of earlier material.  Excluding the trite ‘follow your dreams’ lyrics, “Stay Gold” is egregiously similar to “Dominos” – the far superior elder sibling.  It’s like comparing Liam to Noel (QRO live review).  “Hit the Ground (Superman)” is the more bouncy of the two singles, still with the same mammoth choruses and auditory swirls.  The most intriguing aspect of this song is that it samples Laurie Anderson’s “O Superman”. 

With the exception of the final song “77”, the body of the album is tedious and moments of brilliance, few a far between.  The Yeasayer (QRO live review)-esque “Give It Up” is reasonably interesting on a rhythmic level.  On “1313” five minutes of aimless meandering is concluded with a tantalising, one-minute industrial drum pattern, around which a whole song could have been carved, but wasn’t.  “Rubbernecking” has an infectious chorus, a la “Stay Gold”, but has little more to offer in verse acuity.             

Song writing will always be a human craft; technology may aid it, but will never define it.  That is why the thinly orchestrated “77” is the record’s strongest track.  Lyrical sincerity takes a front seat here and does not hide in the back of buttons and effects.  Sparse drums patterns and strings, spacious piano, delicate synth and unfussy guitar support the tear-jerking lines: “You were my hero / My brother and my good friend / Now I’ve been bleeding / For three and a half years” and “Now I’m all fucked up /And sometimes I forget I miss you.”  This song essentially saves Future This and serves greatly as a closing track.  This is an album bookended by strong tracks, though with little to be found on the shelf.

MP3 Stream: “77

{audio}/mp3/files/The Big Pink – 77.mp3{/audio}

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