Australian electro duo the Presets create a kind of temporal convergence, blending electronic music's past with its present on their third album, Pacifica. Making modern dance music with the feel of synth pop, the pair are able to pull off an interesting sonic trick, delivering an album that feels distinctly '80s without actually sounding like it's from that era. While Pacifica's production is crisp and clear, the album has a dark vibe running through it, adding a vaguely unsettling feeling to the songs' pulsing rhythms to give the whole thing a nocturnal feeling. This approach goes a long way in helping the album feel like something new rather than just a rehash of the past, giving a nod to groups like New Order without lifting anything directly out of their playbook. While the album might be shrouded in a veneer of synth pop, the nuts and bolts come straight from the world of progressive house/trance, providing Pacifica with the necessary propulsion to send the album racing off into the dark unknown, making it the ideal soundtrack to the after party after the after party. While the murky atmosphere and late-night pulse of songs like "Push" and "Fast Seconds," might not immediately scream fun, there's something undeniably engaging about them, highlighting the Presets' knack for hooking straight into that part of the brain that demands you hit the floor and dance until the sun comes crawling over the horizon.
© Gregory Heaney /TiVo