Three years after a very well received debut, The Big Pink brings us Future This. In sound the albumis a departure from their 2009 A Brief History of Love, but it also seems like a natural next step. The album starts out strong with Stay Gold, the catchiest and most upbeat track of the lot, and while things taper off a bit a from there, The Big Pink remain energetic throughout, an audible feat of Future This.
Rubbernecking is a great studio anthem, but for the most part vocals are secondary to the way tracks are laid out. That is probably my favorite thing about Future This. It’s electronic music for sure, but the effect varies from song to song. It sometimes feels a lot like MGMT, but often, as in songs like Lose Your Mind, The Big Pink achieve s sound that’s very Cure/Depeche Mode era 80s.
The Big Pink’s Future This doesn’t break any molds in the world of music. If anything, it actually operates comfortably within the indie spectrum, a mash up of the best electro-pop and synth sounds. The result is something that’s perfectly fine, even if it doesn’t challenge its listeners. Sometimes that isn’t what I want from music. Future This is something that’s easy to listen to and simply put, fun.
Sarah McBride’s thoughts on music, film, lit and life can be found at sarahism.com. You can follow her on twitter @sarahism.