Today artist spotlight features Celina with her latest album: Past Perfect Future. She is a recurring guest in the spotlight, previously featured here
- but this album is a a larger, comprehensible 12 track LP.
The first track Shadow Master kicks off in a dark mood with some intensive sweeps and deep resonating bass. It is reciprocated with the incoming subtle lead and arps. After a short bridge we find ourselves in the middle with aptly placed kicks and synths galore. The next bridge is surprisingly quiet, just sends a message with some reverb synths then we’re back to the main theme.
Prototype Rising starts with fading in plucks and synth backgrounds then the bass and drum set takes over with some tricky arps on top. The premise of this track is supposed to be unexpected outcomes, based on its title but as it progresses it’s quite predictable and fits well into its form. There is a nice lead later with dark but smooth background effects. We do get our quiet bridge though where the main theme fades in again. In the last verse the lead is lifted by an octave for emphasis. The ending has a surprise verse, before it faces out.
The Obliterator track starts with a synth solo and some looming background drone, then the drums and bass takes up the pace with some well inserted 303-esque sequences. The solo is coming back but this time as a lead. The overall mood is a bit brighter so far, until we get some distorted synths in case we forgot about the mood. The bridge is quiet here too - but not for long. After that we get all the elements we got so far complete with lead. The fadeout is tricky, the lead is used to end the song.
While Cliux Delta starts with some nicely echoed bells the bass and the upcoming background synth quickly sets the mood before someone would drift off. The bells do come back but we also get a lead into a quiet bridge again with looming sweeps and distant voices, then reality check happens: everything comes back but turned up a notch, more and more layers with arps, leads - then it suddenly gets normalized before the fadeout.
Runtime Error starts just the same as its namesake: a bit of a chaos. The bass and drum drops in to make order with some background synth. To drive the point home, we get a distorted lead to stay true to the title. The background synth and lead change roles back and forth then we hit the bridge, quietly and subtly. Only the kick emphasizes that we’re getting back into action with all the distorted back synths, more leads which becomes just one lead at the ending.
The track Stay is almost melodic at the start. A fine reverb synth with some background pads when the drums come in and … but this time we’re not getting metal pieces in our face. The mood stays the same brighter, glowing with more pads, more reverbed leads and even bells. Make no mistake, it’s not a synth ballad but a slower, more relaxed track with the same theme.
The ambitious Atari named track starts with a catchy background synth and pulls in some cool arps, bass and nice drums. The bridge cleverly leaves the kicks to shift the weight a bit higher before the next verse: the arp becomes stronger with a synced background effect between the drums.
Blue Phoenix is a more relaxed track. In fact it’s a bit of a departure from the overall theme. The smooth plucks with a whistling lead and reverbed and echoed background synths paint a peaceful scene. We do get our quiet bridge though with fading arps and almost with just the lead only. The next verse picks up where the first left off. It still has a metallic tone but it’s one of those tracks which uses the smoothness to deliver power.
The dreaded State Machine is a power driven track right from the beginning: deep saw background synth, echoed hits, sweeps and a gliding lead - depicts the truth about this programming technique. The quiet bridge is also present but just for a little while: everything comes back in a higher setting. While the track sounds predictable it does get complicated. This is on par with its title so it makes a good point.
If it was powerful until now - with a few exceptions - the track Violent Communication is surely a punch in the face. Or not. Starts with a nice sequence, strong drums and subtle bass it chooses another way to depict verbal violence: the weight of the words. It builds weight with more distorted synths it deliers more and more until a bit quieter bridge but this time we’re not spared, it’s full with sequences, arps before it resumes forceful theme but with added arps and sequences.
Toxic Paradise does not promise too much fun either - well if you have a thing for dark and cyberpunk atmosphere it’s all the fun. Electrifying background synths, dark effects and sweeps with a looming lead makes clear where we are. The bridge we get is anything but quiet then it unleases the power. At the end it is somewhat dampened by some pads - then it does not fade out but fades in, even louder: to throw harsh depicted reality in out face.
The closing track Twisted Future starts almost like a conservative synthwave track: small arps, nice bass and gated reverbed drums. The quiet bridge then brings back the same with nice sweeping background synth. However an LFO and some filter tweaks does make a twisted feeling. The fadeout is unusually long, giving a proper closing to this album.
The dark, cyberpunk mood is really well depicted through this album. Sometimes it surprises us with unexpected changes but it makes clear that it’s still a dystopian, possibly grim world we’re in. The wordplay album title also leaves it up to interpretation how grim it is.
The album is available on Bandcamp, Spotify , YouTube .
Highly recommended!