Future of What - "Moonstruck" CD EP Review ~ BrooklynRocks: NYC Music Blog

Sunday, July 08, 2012

Future of What - "Moonstruck" CD EP Review



After releasing a solo disc, Die Young (Autumn Tone Records), in 2010, Blair Gimma hooked up with Sam Axelrod (guitarist/vocalist of Chicago’s The Narrator) to form a new full-band project Future of What. The band released its debut EP "Moonstruck" on June 26th as a free download and this four-track/14-minute disc is blissful trip down the synth-driven, ethereal path that a of a number of 4AD bands (NME cited Chairlift as a reference point) have previously traveled.

Blair wrote the songs on "Moonstruck" over the course of 2011 and, home from her solo tour, found she wanted to play in a collaborative band setting. Quickly, one came together: Seth Waldstein had been playing drums with her since 2010; she met Sam Axelrod through mutual friends; and he knew Max Kotelchuck through his sister. The newly dubbed Future of What further fleshed out and arranged Blair's songs, and began rehearsing in January 2012. After playing their first show in February (opening for a sold out Mirah), the band recorded and mixed "Moonstruck" with Daniel Schlett (Here We Go Magic, Friends, DIIV) at Strange Weather studio in Brooklyn, NY over four days in March.

The disc starts out “Back to the City” which sets the tone for the rest of the disc. This song is a hazy and wistful shoegazer number on which Blair's airy, intimate vocals float over keyboard-driven melodies and the pulse of the drum beat. "I Wait For You" is a plaintive number with pulsing keys and vocals weaving in and out of the lush atmospheric sound. “White Light” comes close to Julee Cruise territory with its ethereal vocals, gauzy textures and moody keys. The EP winds up with the aching, dreamlike pulsing beat and shimmering keyboards of "Party in Heaven".



"Moonstruck" Track Listing:
Back To The City
I Wait For You
White Light
Party In Heaven

The band is still writing and recording in preparation for a forthcoming full-length. In a recent interview with the Village Voice’s “Sound of the City”, Sam Axelrod said “I feel like a full-length will be a bit more expansive. I feel the EP songs are a little similar to each other, as opposed to what the album would be. It'll be a little bit more shuffling the deck. More moods. More variety. It's tricky, when you're in a band and writing songs, every song sounds so different to you because you spend so much time with them.

Links:
Future of What