Get your ears ready – there’s new music from CommsBreakdown out now! Dystopia For Soundtrack Lovers continues the mood set by my recent Music For A Civilised World album, but with a darker take on this collection of retro electronica, downtempo beats, ambient soundscapes and synthwave/post-rock crossovers.
2024 has been quite an emotional rollercoaster of a year so far, and this album came into being as an antidote to the grief, stress and pressure I’ve been experiencing over the past few months. Music can be one of the best therapies, and making tunes has always been a great emotional outlet for me – and this new album is a great example.
I like to think that Dystopia For Soundtrack Lovers is an album of light and shade, highlighting some of the darker elements of the world in the first five tracks, and then shining a brighter and more relaxing light on the final five tracks. Welcome To Dystopia sets the vibe, with its lazy, evolving electronica and the sounds of a busy city punctuatiing the shifting chords and percussive beats. There’s also an element of nostalgia throughout, with tracks like Head For The Hills and Back To The Arcade harking back to the sounds of the eighties.
I’m very proud of these new tracks, so I hope you’ll enjoy them too.
Head to my Bandcamp page to stream and buy the album.
Dystopia For Soundtrack Lovers: a track-by-track breakdown
If you’re wondering what the album sounds like, here’s a track-by-track rundown of the ten tracks that make up this new release.
1. Welcome To Dystopia
An introduction to the dystopian modern age, with pulsating, synthetic organs mixed with the hustle and bustle of the city. Krautrock machine percussion is processed and chopped into bite-sized chunks to mirror the frenetic pace of the 21st-century metropolis.
2. Descent Into Oblivion
Dark, broody and slightly menacing, a precise, militaristic 606 snare drum sets the rhythm for this synthwave/post-rock crossover. Gated guitar adds a hint of humanity against the anthemic synth lead line that drives the whole track. Prog for the synth generation.
3. One Teardrop At A Time
A mournful synthetic guitar intro kicks off this ambient soundscape, as synths sweep and fall and a filtered arpeggio line cuts through the mix. Synths drop away and fade, introducing a post-rock guitar and bass avalanche to bury the senses and provide our dystopian antidote.
4. Head For The Hills!
Step back to the eighties and into the chase scene from your own imagined movie. Inevitably the scene ends in a giant explosion, with Sequential Circuits drums adding that quintessential eighties feel alongside a soaring lead synth line and Jupiter-style staccato bass.
5. Back To The Arcade
One for the 8-bit gamers, this nostalgic dive into late 20th-century gaming will take you straight back to 1982. The shrill beeps of cassette loading mixes with chiptune beats and melodies that gradually morph into a richer, 2020s synth groove that brings you straight back to dystopia.
6. Dusk In The City
The orange orb of the polluted sun slips over the horizon, as the urban sounds of the city surround you once again. Traffic honks and zooms past, police sirens wail and distant guitars pluck out a blues riff. But, despite the chaos, this is one relaxing trip to the dystopian metropolis.
7. Somnambulant Saturday
Escape the smog of the city and spend your weekend in the countryside. The sounds of a lazy Saturday permeate this laidback groove, as you slip into a fitful snooze. Chillhop beats keep the rhythm slow and sleepy, as you forget about the dystopian future and live for today.
8. Home Is Where The Arp Is
Multiple arpeggio lines intertwine and evolve around this chilled, soulful groove. The perfect soundtrack to a day away from the hassles of the modern world. Dive into the ocean, swim with the fishes and let the ambient vibes take you far from your personal dystopia.
9. Open Up And Say Aah!
An homage to seventies and eighties public information films, this track mixes snippets of spoken advice on dental hygiene with soothing ambient electronica, before morphing into a bass-heavy dance track, with additional syncopated toothbrush percussion.
10. Goodbye To Dystopia
A different take on the opening track, that removes the frenetic snare patterns and pulsing bass of the original and takes you on a more relaxed and mellow journey out of the dystopian cityscape and into a brighter, and more chilled, future.
Drop me a comment below and let me know your favourite track on the album.
CommsBreakdown 