It’s happening, the third Summer of Love (2013 - Present) is happening - This
Is Happening. With the loss of an important 00s artistic curator
in James Murphy, who will take the reigns as the driving force behind
dance-punk and its electronic undertones. The answer has been in front of us
for many years. It lies in the backs of our minds, and in the dusty shelf of our record collections. We're going back to the days, where whack musicians were
being praised on stage. It didn’t' matter if a dancer defined your band, or if
one album was your legacy. It's the history and movement that separates the
average from the brave and bold, and beautiful in this case. It's not out yet,
but Arcade Fire's Reflektor is already shaping up to be the new house for new wave, with Jagwar Ma's Howlin' still Q-tipping dope into your
ears.
Their Australian buddies Cut Copy are taking
electronic music to the next level with their fourth album Free Your Mind.
They've already established a strong electronic rock sound with Zonoscope, and
its magnificent predecessor In Ghost Colours. Dan Whitford heads Cut
Copy, and has been leading the production since Zonoscope, and probably
has a bigger say in the quartet's direction. If it was up to me, Cut Copy would
have taken this direction from the start, but by growing an audience, and a
'Fifa fanbase' as such, they can catapult their upcoming fourth album in to territory
never seen by an Australian recording artist - bar Nick Cave.
"We Are Explorers" is a step closer to that part acid / part
electro house sound Cut Copy are gunning for. Crank it up - can you jack? Well
these four Aussies are certainly pumping fists to the sound of Chicago in the
late 80s with this one. "We Are Explorers" lends its hand to a
variety of sub-genres, like Cut Copy as an artist do. It's psychedelic trance
at heart with the initial synthesizers, and acid house with the percussion and
pouncing bass. The atmospheric vocal breaths and piano accompaniment are a
modern contrast to the Second Summer of Love in the UK, with Primal Scream and
Happy Monday leading this genre mashing of great dance, rock, and energetic
music. It's more about the feel and emotions that come with it than any particular
musical element. With "We Are Explorers", Cut Copy are entering an
age worth coming back to. Free Your Mind is gearing up to be a defining
album in the latter stages of 2013.
~Eddie Gibson
