Nostalgic Sounds Turn Sinister

Meat Beat Manifesto (MBM) leader Jack Dangers will be answering many fans’ prayers with his long awaited new album, Impossible Star. The 11th album by the band is fresh, with a harmonic mix of industrial and jazz influences. This being the first full length album released by the group in nearly a decade, the album is both an exciting amount of new material, and a return to the band’s earlier sound from previous works.

On the band’s official website, MBM stated the album is “Drawing on the paranoid and surreal political and cultural climate… an MC Escher optical illusion which spirals around and around and never seems to end.”

The opening track “One” is erie and discordant, setting the tone for the album. Impossible Star seems to exist in a parallel world, in which decades have melded together and we now exist in a post apocalyptic chunk of space. There are a handful of songs that really enforce the idea that Dangers is using this album partially as a commentary on our current political state. The song “We Are Surrounded” ushers in a theme of paranoia and panic, like Alexa has become self aware and she’s coming after you. Describing the songs, Dangers says, “’We Am Surrounded’ and ‘T.M.I.’ represent the paranoid xenophobic ‘so-called’ fake news cycle we are living in.”

The title track “Impossible Star” fittingly highlights the theme of the entire album. Using beats that could be ridiculous in any other context, Dangers creates an infectious melody. It contains everything from laser sounds to piano and saxophone, and the line “Peace, it’s impossible” is repeated over it all. It seems to expand upon a feeling of despair for the future. Dangers frequently uses samples that are outdated and overused, and works them together into a sound that is nothing short of nostalgic.

Samples reminiscent of ’50s PSA warnings haunt several tracks throughout the album. The album also makes use of spacey, futuristic synths that lead the listener to imagine they are drifting into a less forgiving episode of Star Trek. Rather than sounding kitschy, the songs bring to mind the state of the world from decades past, and their relation to our present reality. Along with ten new songs, the album features three from previous releases. “Nocebo” and “Lurker” are originally from the 2015 EP Kasm02. The track “Lurker” has been expanded from roughly four minutes into a fifteen minute track. It also includes an alternative version of  “Synthesizer Test,” originally featured in the compilation album Archive Things. Despite the long run times of these songs, they don’t drag. These additions to the album mix well and positively contribute to the album overall.

However, MBM cannot always successfully translate these songs into a present day sound. A handful of the songs from this album are disappointing, in which some of the presumably intentional cheesy sounds become too overbearing. There are quite a few great tracks on this record, but it seems that a majority of the best songs on the album are ones from previous releases. In a way, the more dated the song is, the less dated it feels.

Regardless, MBM has created a thoroughly enjoyable album with a clear concept. It is playful and sinister all at once, and disturbingly relatable to anyone baffled by the state of the world. Long awaited, MBM’s Impossible Star is a sign of the times.