release date: september 6 2013
format: lp / digital
label: narrominded
info
Heat is the new LP from Holland’s Hunter Complex, a record that looks to balance a functional (and very Dutch) ‘utility pop’ with a whole host of disturbing hints and suggestions. It’s a slightly unnerving listen, despite its attractive and powerful sweeps of melody. Recorded between 2010 and 2012, Heat manages – often very successfully – to persuade the listener that they’re tuning into a strange mix of Moroder’s film scores and ‘81-‘82 era Simple Minds. Digital synths, like the Roland D-50 and Yamaha DX7, give everything a suitably ‘period feel’. And the keys on Space are straight off Sons and Fascination, for example. Severed Heads covering China Crisis? Chris and Cosey making symphonic advert music in downtown LA? We can but dream.
But enough comparisons. Despite the LP wearing its sources of inspiration on its sleeve, and despite the fact that our descriptive narratives have (inevitably) to follow suit, it’s a seductive listen. Queasy, paranoid synth washes, rich, gloopy bass tones and weighty electronic stabs of rhythm drive the music on. The record’s got a feel of Stalker about it; cinematic, a taste of future-past served up on a plastic plate. Joep van Lieshout’s vision for communal living maybe, or a future that’s just out of reach, probably because it never escaped being imaginary.
tracklisting
side one
1.heat
2.serious glass
3.atlantic
4.space
5.daylight
side two
1.highway hypnosis
2.china rain
3.room
4.stations
5.hours
press downloads
reviews
‘The style of the music is probably on par with someone like John Maus, where they are both working with and reinterpreting these sounds for a new century.’
fotw audio productions
‘Hazy, delay-drenched road trip to nowhere, for which Hunter has packed into trunk a sparse synth and drum machine set up and phased us into a Californian dreamtime.’
the sound projector
‘Driving sequencers, sparkling DX7s, power leads and smokey vocals stride into a bold over saturated VHS future world. Cool as flip.’
the belbury parish magazine
‘An album that takes you by the throat from start to finish.’
the post.online
‘Techno-pop and movie score dramatics.’
mojo magazine
‘Hunter Complex manages to brew his very own musical story, one full of melody and recognition.’
kwadratuur
‘An honest guy with lots of love for this kind of music and that love seeps through the seams of kitsch.’
peek-a-boo magazine
‘A perfect flashback to a time that never really was.’
highlife
‘Heat hovers somewhere between that British synthpop of the time – but relies less on songs – and the German synthesizer dinosaurs like Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze.’
revolver’s lust for life
‘Compared to its predecessor Heat is an album that sounds a lot more distant.’
festivalinfo
‘Highway Hypnosis is a track with one of the best hook heard this year. (…) This album is really well written and glamorous.’
chain d.l.k.
‘The record is enticingly melodic, although the sterile sound world is hardly cozy or humanly inviting.’
kindamuzik
‘An fluffige Formel 1-Sampler und fiese Marken-Klamotten.’
nonpop
‘The strong positivism that leaks from the melodic and warm synths make the pain even worse – it’s a brilliant combination.’
the quietus
‘If Giorgio Moroder would be depressed or paranoid for a day, he would make this kind of music.’
musicfrom.nl
‘Most of the compositions contain a subtle way of repressed tension, the kind that makes you slide restlessly in your seat.’
dark entries
‘Heat could pass for a soundtrack from 1985.′
written in music
‘Cosmic romanticism’, ‘future noir’ and ‘artisanal synthesizerpop’.
indie indie
‘This is music for standing on top of buildings and gazing intensely over the skyline after saving the city from certain destruction. (…) This is really excellent.’
norman records
‘Heat is a record that you should let soak in slowly , like a healing balm. (…) who perseveres will be rewarded.’
gonzo (circus)
‘It’s a cinematic, imaginative en wonderful record that will appeal to every melancholic.’
subjectivisten / caleidoscoop
‘I’m not sure whether you can take my word for how good this LP is (…) Maybe Hunter Complex are serial sentimentalists.’
indendiary magazine
‘That whole 80s feel is what makes this record strong (…) a very pleasant record, highly entertaining. Great value!’
vital weekly
‘Dropping John Carpenter influenced keyboard noir (Serious Glass), analogue slabs with goth poetry lyrics (China Rain) and goose-bump guaranteeing synth arpeggios (Daylight).’
bleep
‘Heat is full of such cinematic, mysterious spacepop with a slightly ominous undertone that you continue to return to.’
kicking the habit