FUTURE CONDITIONAL "WE DON'T JUST DISAPPEAR" (LTMCD 2478)

FUTURE CONDITIONAL

Every once in a while a new pop album comes out that takes hold of you from the first listen, "We Don't Just Disappear" by Future Conditional is one of those albums. I had high hopes already for this disc (so much that I decided to pre-order it) based on the concept and personnel involved. The notion of Glen Johnson and Cedric Pin (of Piano Magic) collaborating on a disc heavily influenced by early OMD, early Human League, Kraftwerk, early New Order and Section 25 circa "From the Hip" was more than enough to keep me intrigued. The album exceeds my highest expectations-- it plays like an unreleased masterwork from Factory Records' heyday. The album starts with a series of 'clicks' reminiscent of the theme to the cursed Scottish television program "The Omega Factor" before becoming an analogue synth charge: "I have trouble holding on, I have trouble staying straight" Dan Matz (of Windsor from the Derby) sings to a singeing-dry electronic beat. It is the perfect opening to an album filled with so many highlights. Angele David-Gillou (of Klima & Piano Magic) sings "You never got over the last girl that kissed you..." on "Crying's What You Need" a track that seems like a perfect rejoinder to New Order's "Perfect Kiss". The album ends with Bobby Wratten (of Field Mice & Trembling Blue Stars) singing on "Your Leaves Me Colder", as if assessing all the stories of love and loss that have come before on the disc, before the beat fully stops and the song ends in a chant:

THE NIGHT IS YOUNG
THE STARS ARE OUT
THE SONGS ARE SUNG
THEY'RE ALL ABOUT

THE BROKEN HEART
THE FINAL KISS
THE ONE WE LOST
THE ONE WE MISSED

If only more songs could haunt me in the same way.

UPDATE: Its now available for download on emusic.

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from the website:
WE DON'T JUST DISAPPEAR (LTMCD 2478) £10
The debut album (2007) from Future Conditional blends classic analog synth-pop with sleek retro-futurist beats, and features a stellar array of guest vocalists including Melanie Pain (Nouvelle Vague), Bobby Wratten (Field Mice, Trembling Blue Stars), Angele David-Guillou (Klima, Piano Magic), Dan Matz (Windsor For The Derby) and Carolyn Allen (The Wake). As Glen Johnson explains: "Future Conditional isn't just an exercise in nostalgia. We are, in some way paying homage to the groups we love and inspire us, but we're also experimenting with the glacial electro/human emotional interface. The future is a robot with a human heart."

Full tracklist: Bright Lights & Wandering, Broken Robots, We Don't Just Disappear, Switchboard Girl, Substance Fear, Crying's What You Need, The Volunteer, The Last Engineer, Typos, Your Love Leaves Me Colder.