Man Without Country - Maximum Entrophy

Maximum Entrophy hardly has them re-inventing their sound, however the tweaks to their approach results in a much more consistent long player this time round. Opener “Claymation” sums up what’s in store on the rest of the album; harsh synths, thunderous bass, heavily processed beats, big choruses and soaring vocals. It's all about being big here, they’re gunning for the same kind of big bombastic electronic indie sound M83 sought and gained commercial recognition for on their 2011 breakthrough, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming.

What makes this album stand out from other synth pop albums is how they can switch from being overtly synthetic: the propulsive beats of “Entropy” or “Oil Spill” contain beats that sound like they’re made of plastic, to being bummed out and emotive with ease, the fragility of “Loveless Marriage”, the introspective housey beats of “Catfish” (surely influenced from James’ recent Royksopp) and the woozy “Virga” all manage to juxtapose bombast and lethargy, they’re up there with their best material to date.

The at times barely there vocals of James threatens to make the whole album an electronic sigh, so using the feminine vocal coos of White Sea (M83's Morgan Kilbey) on “Laws of Motion”, a sweet as honey piece of wind machine blown ‘80’s pop delirium is a smart move, as is the beatless "Incubation" which introduces a cinematic element by turning to the mid ‘70’s work of Brian Eno, showing an impressive way around an ambient track, this sets them aside from your average new wave synth pop act.

If the first half of the album seems a little heavy on the synth pop, there are darker delights on the latter. “Deliver Us From Evil” has the same kind of tentative doom as that of Efterklang or latter day Massive Attack, while the trancey “Romanek” starts off hesitantly gradually breaking into a pounding electro conclusion.

Chucking in a cover of the Beloved's blissed out ambient pop classic “Sweet Harmony” at the end does point the listener to the genesis of what has come before it, but an almost note for note cover proves to be superfluous, their work is already done, and done really well.