Near Future - Ideal Home

  by Dave Goodwin

published: 31 / 5 / 2018

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So, born in England's World Cup winning year of '66, my musical preferences didn't really start to kick in until I was around ten. I listened initially to mainstream chart music, but when the synth movement kicked off quite quickly with Gary Numan, Depeche Mode and OMD etc I became hooked on it and started to hunt down the often more obscure music of that era. What I class as my Utopian Era from '79 to '84 was five years of discovery that spawned most of the music I still listen to now. Although Blancmange had a little success at that time, they were still considered to be one of the more obscure bands back then. It was this type of sound that I revelled in. Those minimal synths and electronic drums really battered my sonic defences, and it's a sound that I go back to time and time again. In the past few years many other bands have tried to emulate that sound, and, whilst some are quite good at it, they have something missing. They are like Corona without the lime. And now comes this debut offering from Near Future, the side project of solo electronic artist Bernholz (who also performs live as part of Gazelle Twin) and, wait for it, Neil Arthur, one half of, you guessed it, Blancmange. From the opening title track start to the last song 'Bulk Erase' it's a trip back to stark synth glory days. The second track 'Field This' reminds me of early Thomas Leer. It is as minimal as it probably gets but this is the sound that I go back to. The early Fag Gadget-toned 'Overwhelmed' gives way to one of Arthur's darkest set of lyrics on the album with 'Thought Terminating in Your Night' which is stuck literally on to an irresistible Linn Drum background. Ir is reminiscent of an obscure Bill Nelson track. 'Dawn' is a strange number. Starting with a round of nursery rhyme, a child's giggle and then with birdsong set to a 'War of the Worlds' backdrop, it is initially quite chilling, but it becomes more upbeat with its electronic drum and sparsely euphoric keys. The gloriously melancholic 'Gap in the Curtain' finds Arthur ranting "You couldn't make it up." The brilliance of this album continues with 'Kites over Waitrose' which sports some curious chimes and, instead of Arthur, we are treated to a blast of spoken word from Bernholz. "Too much has happened that I need to forget/To be moving forward without all this regret/Heads are fucked..." are the imposing words of 'Bulk Erase' as Arthur pours out his frustrations. This bottle of Corona does have the lime in it and I've just ordered cases of it. Marvellous!

Track Listing:-

1 Ideal Home
2 Field This
3 Overwhelmed
4 Fish and Chips
5 Thought Terminating in Your Night
6 Come and Play
7 Dawn
8 Gap in the Curtain
9 Kites over Waitrose
10 Bulk Erase

Band Links:-

https://bernholz.bandcamp.com/
https://bernholzmusic.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/bernholzmusic/
https://twitter.com/bernholzmusic

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