Future Perfect - Escape

Future Perfect is a project from North Wales based electronica duo, Simon Owen and Rebecca Morgan. In their own words, "Combining sounds and technology of the past with energy and tempo of the present, they are creating sounds for the future." 'Escape' is their second release following the well received 'Dirty Little Secrets' in 2010.

The album begins with "War Of Words", which is a blend of synthpop and disco. It has a good rhythm and, and bassline. Features some nice male vocals at an excellent level, with great female disco like vocals in support. A good dance track with a different approach. "Counterattack" features a nice female vocal build up, with great lyrics. Still very much a dance track, and the nice synth lines so well complement the great strong and clear vocals.

Very impressed so far, I head into "Silent Scream", featuring more good prominent female vocals, male/female duets and Siouxsie like sounds in what is a very different track. A blend of synthpop and darkwave is a fitting label. Until the vocals kicked in I thought I was listening to Global Citizen. It then develops a gothic feel, the main vocals are hushed but so clear, with Numan like synthesized sounds filling the background. "Paradise" then brings a big change, drums and synths driving from the first beats. A definite futurepop sing-a-long floor filler with good male and female vocals. It has a super and unforgettable chorus and is going straight on my playlist.

I would have thought the duo would not have been able to top "Paradise", until I heard "Escape". It's synthpop gold, but the melody and vocals are enough to take this into the realms of more mainstream listening. Again a sing-a-long and dance track with again those great chorus lines. "Light" reminds me of what I think the Pet Shop Boys do best. It's just beautiful synthpop, this time with prominent male vocals, and the vocals of Simon and Rebecca blend well together. It also has a kind of moody sound which I like.

"Complicated Machine", slows things down a lot. More darkwave but with some dreaded intermittent ambient experimentation. But the beautiful female vocals make it a reason that you just got to listen to it, and it's more like a synth ballad. "Saint Perfect" picks up the beat once again but with a darker sound, and Simon on main vocals. Sounds a little ordinary after many of the previous tracks, but still more much than a filler track,

In "Angel Of Protection", the synths and drums give a PSB air from the start. It's catchy, warm and has a dance beat, and also has an early 1980s sound to it, Tears for Fears spring to mind. Our album is completed by "We Fly", nice anthemic synthpop start with Rebecca as main vocalist. But overall I would describe this as class electropop, still with a techno like dance beat and nice melody. Nice is the best way I can describe it, it's not outstanding but another very enjoyable listen.

Conclusion:
A very enjoyable album I would recommend to all those who appreciate synthpop, electropop, and even for those who like their music more mainstream pop. Very reminiscent of the synthesizer-based sound of the early 1980s, with some late 80s PSB like sounds mixed in and a dash of darkwave to keep us guessing.

A synthop duo with a difference with both members taking on lead vocals and handling synths, and doing it well. The songwriting and lyrics are consistently good throughout the whole album. Top tunes are the dance floor fillers "Paradise" and "Escape", but almost every song works and deserves a place on the album. The production is also very good. One thing is for sure Future Perfect should have a much bigger audience than they currently have and I hope this album goes somewhere to achieve that.

So I have just found out, the limited edition CD of the album includes the ten official titles reviewed here, plus two exclusive bonus remix tracks or the expanded digital download edition comes with 4 bonus remixes, all of which I didn't get! Look out for the "Escape (Infernal Organ Remix)". Jul 22 2012