The Future Will Come

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The Future Will Come
Studio album by
The Juan MacLean
ReleasedApril 21, 2009
RecordedFlymax Studios (Woodstock, New York)
Genre
Length60:26
LabelDFA
ProducerThe Juan MacLean, The DFA
The Juan MacLean chronology
Visitations

(2006) 		The Future Will Come
(2009) 		DJ-Kicks
(2010)

The Future Will Come is the second album by American

synthpop band The Human League, and it incorporates many themes from science fiction
. The Future Will Come received somewhat positive reviews from music critics and yielded three singles: "Happy House", "The Simple Life", and "One Day".

Following the release of "Happy House", the band embarked on a European tour to promote the single and returned to the U.S. before the release of "The Simple Life".[1] After the album was released the following year, the Juan MacLean promoted it with a one-month European tour followed by a U.S. tour with Swedish electronic musician The Field.[2]

Recording

The Juan MacLean performing on the DFA + Kompakt Tour in 2009.

John MacLean and

Nancy Whang wrote the album at a studio in Woodstock, New York.[3] Several of the songs were co-written with Nick Millhiser and Alex Frankel from synthpop duo Holy Ghost!. MacLean stated that he wanted "to use dance music production techniques to make pop songs."[4] To move away from the common first-person narrative used in popular music, they decided to feature their voices equally. MacLean and Whang sought examples of songs that had male and female narrators but struggled to find any aside from The Human League.[5]

The music on The Future Will Come is influenced by Detroit techno, especially the Belleville Three. MacLean used the Roland SH-101 as his main synthesizer lead and the Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer.[4] Influenced by electronic band Kraftwerk, many of the songs use robot metaphors to describe emotional detachment in relationships.[5] The album's futuristic lyrics are inspired by science fiction writers Philip K. Dick and William Gibson as well as dystopian films such as Blade Runner, Logan's Run, and THX 1138.[4]

Singles

"Happy House"
Lead single "Happy House" was noted for being one of the album's more joyful moments.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

The 12-minute closing track "Happy House" was released as the lead single in early 2008. The song's lyrics are cheerful and romantic, with Whang providing distant-sounding vocals.[6] In a review for The Guardian, Dorian Lynskey likened the song to the work of Chicago house musician Larry Heard,[7] and Pitchfork reviewer Douglas Wolk noted the similarity between the song's piano riff and that of Dubtribe Sound System's "Do It Now".[8]

Remixes were commissioned by artists including

LEDs.[10]

Opening track "The Simple Life" was released as a single later in 2008. In it, MacLean sings the verses in a conversational style, with Whang singing the chorus. Its synthesizer

rave song has MacLean and Whang responding to each other with spiteful lines about a breakup.[6]
Its music video was directed by Patrick Longstreth.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Pitchfork Media
7.4/10[6]
PopMatters5/10[15]
Rolling Stone[16]

The Future Will Come received somewhat positive reviews from music critics.

Pitchfork Media described the music as "post-disco dance-pop aesthetics intersecting and merging in ways that transcend cheap retro", adding that the use of more longer tracks would have allowed it "a bit more breathing room."[6] NME described the music as "Dionysian disco: dynamic, decadent and utterly brilliant."[14]

Reviewers were mixed on the album's use of mechanical musical themes.

Phil Oakeyisms not so much."[7]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Simple Life"Alex Frankel, Juan Maclean, Nancy Whang, Nicholas Millhiser8:36
2."The Future Will Come"Maclean4:53
3."One Day"Frankel, Maclean, Whang4:15
4."A New Bot"Maclean, Whang3:14
5."Tonight"Frankel, Maclean, Whang10:06
6."No Time"Maclean, Whang3:52
7."Accusations"Frankel, Maclean, Whang5:29
8."The Station"Frankel, Maclean, Whang, Millhiser3:37
9."Human Disaster"Maclean3:44
10."Happy House"Frankel, Maclean, Whang, Millhiser12:27

References

  1. The FADER
    . August 12, 2008. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  2. Pitchfork Media
    . Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  3. The FADER
    (60): 34. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c Hirji, Zia (August 10, 2009). "The Juan MacLean". Ion. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  5. ^ a b Grandy, Eric (June 4, 2009). "Inhuman League". The Stranger. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  6. ^
    Pitchfork Media
    . Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  7. ^ a b c Lynskey, Dorian (April 9, 2009). "The Juan Maclean: The Future will Come". The Guardian. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  8. ^
    Pitchfork Media
    . Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  9. ^ "New York Pazz and Jop Singles". The Village Voice. 2009. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  10. The FADER
    . Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  11. ^ a b c Shim, Dave. "The Future Will Come - The Juan MacLean". AllMusic. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  12. ^ a b "The Future Will Come Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  13. ^ a b Greenblatt, Leah (April 24, 2009). "The Future Will Come". Entertainment Weekly (1044/1045): 105. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  14. ^ a b Hoban, Alex (April 6, 2009). "Album review: The Juan MacLean". NME. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  15. ^ a b Britt, Thomas (April 13, 2009). "The Juan MacLean: The Future Will Come". PopMatters. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  16. ^ a b O'Donnell, Kevin (April 2, 2009). "The Future Will Come". Rolling Stone (1075): 83.

External links

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