Weird News from an Uncertain Future is the full-length debut by the Euro-dance supergroup
32Crash, a collaboration from
Front 242 singer Jean-Luc de Meyer and Len Lemeire and Jan D'Hooghe of the Belgian dance duo
Implant. Although the dystopic science fiction lyrics of
Weird News from an Uncertain Future come heavily laden with concept and back story -- briefly, the album posits the trio as space alien emissaries from the year 2107, bringing present-day Earth the news of its imminent self-inflicted destruction -- the music itself could not possibly be more retro. After a brief instrumental opener, "Time to March On," that sounds like vintage
Tangerine Dream, the album is an unapologetic throwback to the darker side of 1980s synth pop:
Black Celebration-era
Depeche Mode,
Gary Numan,
Fad Gadget,
Clan of Xymox,
Nitzer Ebb, and
Laibach fans will all find
Weird News from an Uncertain Future comfortingly familiar, all booming electronic beats, rubbery synth bass, and vintage electronics. The surprise, perhaps, is how catchy many of these songs are: the cover of
Suicide's "I Remember," with its ping-ponging sequencers and de Meyer's whispered evocation of
Alan Vega's urgent shriek, sounds uncannily like a great lost
Ultravox single, and "Spacemen and Poets" features a tremendously hooky singalong chorus. Aging darkwave goths and synth nerds unite:
Weird News from an Uncertain Future could well be your new favorite album. ~ Stewart Mason