Future Analog - Lost In Paradise

Review by Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

Future Analog’s “Lost In Paradise” travels down avenues of desire, love and broken hearted loss against a backdrop of complex, layered synth sounds, outstanding melodies and lyrics along with a plethora of superb musical guests helping to create a fulfilling listening experience. This is music that engages heart, soul and ears with equal strength and draws me into the variety of atmospheres and moods that fill the album.

Elevated production quality and well-considered synth choices make “Lost In Paradise” sing with life. Each track is pin sharp and clear and the way in which the artist skillfully brings together different tonal, textural and timbral elements allows him to capture the atmospheric nature of the songs. When one adds the guitar playing, the overall effect is instrumental beauty to back up emotive expression.

A complete balance between melodic composition and lyric writing also makes “Lost In Paradise” stand out. Each theme or motif which the artist outlines melodically is clear and powerfully affecting, reaching out to draw me more deeply into his musical world. The lyrics are well thought out and convey all of the complexity and emotional weight of human existence. Together these elements create pieces that are intensely ear-pleasing.

The list of musical guests is truly impressive with Kidburn, Julie Hicklin, Saturday AM, Heartbreak City, Wesley Reid and Mayah Camara. All of these extremely talented artists bring their unique abilities to bear on Future Analog’s music. The end result is stunning to delve into and only intensifies the emotional strength of this album.

My Favourite Songs Reviewed

“Paradise (Intro)” grows with portentous strength and chords with an unsettling edge as darkness swirls and exhales in an extended line, A deep guitar strums as the floating sounds move off into the ether. A whisper shifts and the elevated notes are sliced by shadow and sharp edges, lit with gold. Full guitar tones vibrate once more and the introduction fades out.

As it gains strength, “Paradise” declares an all-consuming desire as shifting density moves below notes that broadcast abiding ardour. A bright synth glistens, while fullness and depth flow from Mayah Camara’s vocals, catching emotion and transmitting it in rich tones.

Sailing on looming power, dreaming hope and affection are carried by her smouldering vocal performance as it unfolds in haunting passion. Intense force propels the track as the soul-gripping vocals transport me through realms of remembered love and longing.

Great strength grips the underpinnings while the vocals shiver with heartfelt expression, delving into the burning sensation of true desire. An irresistible connection permeates Future Analog’s slightly shadowed theme as it is lit by sonic supernovae before closing out.

“A combination of dreams, lust, and rapid heartbeats” defines love for the storyteller. She can’t explain how she feels or what the song’s subject does to her. She says, “I really want to give in to you, oh boy if you only knew,” as she wonders if there’s a lot she wouldn’t do. She asks, “Tell me would you buy a premium?”

“You make me feel so good, better than I should,” as our narrator points out that the song’s subject takes her higher into paradise. She adds, “You’re taking me all the way up, no one desires the pride I get in your eyes.” She continues that it’s paradise and, “Oh, I think I found my vice.”

As long as the other person is near her, nothing is impossible, and “there’s only obstacles if I’m taken away from my baby.” Time comes to a halt when they’re together and “everything’s sweet, nothing’s sour, it’s all like a tower.” Feeling as though she’s on a pyre, her drive is the song subject’s love. She concludes, “I love you ’cause you know it now.”

“Endless Glow” flows with a sweeping arpeggio, creating dramatic feeling before the rebounding beat supports an effortless motif, sailing like pure evening light before Wesley Reid catches enigmatic loss in his unmistakable voice. The chorus rises like sunset clouds while the rhythm is solid and slow, balanced with a trickling synth that washes in mournful lines.

A glow that is both tentative and mysterious suffuses the background while Wesley Reid's evocative vocals carry me into the song's hurting mood. Drums flourish beneath the gliding, powerfully emotive performance Wesley Reid carries out above.

A theme, transmitted by a fluting synth, conjures yearning and broken dreams as chiming sounds reverberate. An air of emptiness moves as the guitar solo tears with adoration and pain, howling before a breath ends the track.

As the sun “dips low, the sky bleeds gold (and) shadows drift where stories hold," gentle breezes whisper secrets and the asphalt "hums beneath my feet." The protagonist can hear an echo fade over street sounds and he asks, "Oh endless glow where did you go?" as he recalls fiery nights that flowed.

He’s “chasing cold through the afterglow" as our narrator sees neon lights flickering dreamily and there are "broken mirrors reflecting schemes." He notes that the past is closer than one can see, "the air is thick with what we lost" and it was a heavy price that they paid.

Breathing with hazy softness, “Midnight Rain” is driven by massive beats as Jon Lilygreen broadcasts power and feeling in his captivating vocal delivery, the melody piercing with lost passion and impossible need.

Waves of synth create images of iridescent puddles reflecting city lights while Jon Lilygreen empties his soul into the music, every nuance of feeling rung from the song. The colossal rhythm is broken by robotic notes cutting cleanly as the guitar vibrates and the singer engages me in his heartfelt emotional world.

Jon Lilygreen’s voice echoes while the giant drums and heavy bass propels and the chorus climbs, accompanied by the guitar as it bleeds sensation, bells ringing in delicate motion. The vocal performance awakens undeniable need while the saxophone expresses desire and broken hearted remembrance before the song comes to an end.

As the street lights hum, "a neon glow cuts through the scenes where affection once stood." There are only shadows for the protagonist now but "your name is still burning on my tongue, every word we left unsung." The echoes are loud but the song remains unfinished as his tears fall slowly" in the midnight rain" and leave a stain as the other person is the ghost he can't outrun.

"My tears on the shattered street, tracing lines where our hearts would meet" because our storyteller says, "you're the night I can't escape." He adds that "every heart beats a distant storm, fading out where the lost things are." The other person's touch "lingers like an old guitar, " but he points out that the chords don't play anymore. He concludes, "time won't heal, it just decays. Every step feels a world away. "

“Rise” exudes an aquamarine glow and aquatic xylophone trembles as the drum beat adds a smooth support. The xylophone pattern trickles like water while the solid rhythm is joined by choppy vocal tones creating a theme that is disconnected and gentle.

Irradiating sounds open into a vast soundscape above the shadowy beat, a choir of cut up vocals creating uncertainty. A mixture of peace and darker sensations spreads out below the uplifting vocal message. The undulating synth drives forward as the xylophone splashes and gives rise to calm in me before everything stops.

Aaron Boyd conveys damaged adoration and agonizing loss in his haunting voice as “Out Of Touch” washes into shadow and ominous hints before a blinding synth explodes and Future Analog infuses the track with brooding darkness to deepen its impact.

Percussion collides with titanic force beneath metallic hammering that floats in the distance as the main theme echoes with crushing strength before Aaron Boyd exhales with an aching need that closes around my heart.

Majesty fills the main melody as mechanical noises create ghostly feelings in the background while a disembodied voice hovers. Drums fade as blinding notes cut through and the entire track accelerates and the lead synth cries out. Aaron Boyd conveys an upwelling of ache while the track becomes fragile and closes.

Feeling as if he's "coming undone, all alone in the dark" the narrator muses that he's not quite himself lately. He reminds the song’s subject that "you left me with nothing but these scars" despite being the brightest thing and the best of him. He asks the other person to "tell me that you felt it too" because they've gotten out of touch. He misses "the glow of your love. "

"If you get my message and you're awake," our storyteller asks the song’s subject to try him and take what they need, "take everything from me, just don't say goodbye." Pleading with the other person to go slowly but not to go, he concludes "you could’ve been the brightest thing, you could’ve been the best of me. tell me that you felt it too cuz I'm out of touch with you."

“Broken” has a subtle and melancholy beginning with barely trembling synth and a guitar that slips with hurting tenderness as Julie Hicklin’s embracing performance transmits a painfully gentle motif above the strong rhythm. As the waves undulate, defiance creeps into Julie Hicklin’s vocals with deeper currents running beneath her devotion, adding an emotional complexity that I enjoy.

The vocals reach with pained yearning, while refracted light flickers and the underpinnings throb. A complicated mixture of desire, loss and worry animates Julie Hicklin’s voice while the background beat adds support and haunting voices echo. Future Analog’s guitar adds power and a harder edge to the breath-warmed vocals before drifting outward in a solo full of broken feelings as Julie Hicklin ends with doubt, restrained anger and undeniable caring.

Although the song's subject says that both of them are fine and have always been, our storyteller wonders why they're looking at somebody else. She goes on to say, "I don't wanna pretend, I don't need your words" because she can see the way the other person is moving although they accuse her of being paranoid.

However the narrator needs the truth because she has trust issues and nobody to blame so, "if you were me I bet you'd feel the same." The song's subject has been texting their ex and “I should play it cool but I don't want to" because she'll never get a good reason not to suspect that "your heart’s somewhere else."

Our storyteller says, "I'll sew up your head when you kiss me with your eyes open" as she admits that she’s lied because her heart's broken and adds, "you say that we're fine, why would we not be?" To conclude, she says, "oh, touch me like you used to while we're around your friends."

A melody breaks with painful emotion and a caressing touch to open “A Part of Me” as Julie Hicklin's reverberant voice joins a motif that dances with string-like tenderness before the vocals become a moving sonic tapestry.

Rhythm establishes form as Julie Hicklin uses her fully expressive voice to paint an image of brokenness and bereft sensation, imbuing me with the same emotions. The wide beats burst before the vocals slide in touching lines, reaching out for someone who won't return.

The way in which Julie Hicklin's voice catches my heart with the undeniable pain in it is powerfully affecting.A synthesizer sparkles as the vocals drift without words, still conveying all of the lost opportunities and damaged feelings that the lead singer expresses. A steadying influence comes from the drum beat as the pizzicato strings float off into space.

"It's always on the tip of my tongue, emotions they escape ‘til I'm numb" and the protagonist feels that the song’s subject is trying to find a way into her head and she doesn’t “know how to say it but there's nothing of me left. "

Telling the other person that they can try all that they want, they can only be her guest, the narrator adds that they shouldn't look back because "you're almost at the heart of me" and there isn't much left, "just a little part of me."

At the end of the song, she concludes " now you're stuck without a way out, tangled up in all of my doubts."

“Heaven” generates a reverential glow as Wesley Reid's voice grows with warm engagement and notes rise like the first rays of light piercing the gloom. The theme is full of uplift and hopeful expression as Wesley Reid's voice wraps around my ears with incredible encouragement.

The solid drum beats and glockenspiel mix into a balance between gentleness and heaviness as the chorus climbs with purity and opening possibilities. All of the caring within the lyrics is captured by Wesley Reid as the song beams with brilliance and the melody caresses me in an expression of enormous support.

As a synthesizer illuminates the music in true affection and positivity, Wesley Reid reaches out to give his advice and tenderness while the rhythm pushes on. The vocals are full of compassion and light as they drift past with peaceful feelings and the track comes to a close.

In a positive comment, the primary character says, "I never thought the sunlight was over, it was taking a break from us." He acknowledges that sometimes "clouds blocked the best of your heart" as they waited for a sweet melody after sleeping in to wake back up. The world tried to separate them but, "we decided to stay one more day."

Adding that, "I know the highway to heaven and it always goes through darkness, so don't be broken hearted" our storyteller points out that although they lost the map it's still in his mind because he remembers the way from the last time. He asks the song's subject to take his hand and "trust me this once" as they're on the highway to heaven.

Having faith that the sunlight was going to return because it didn't forget about them, the narrator reminds the songs subject to remember that, "when you're lost and you're down and you have no hope and the lump in your throat makes you think you'll choke” there are millions of others who feel the same and "you're fighting this fight for them too."

With complete tranquility “Secret Garden” glides into life with undulating tones reflecting silvery luminosity before Kidburn's voice captures feelings of ardent intensity, shivering with sensuality. The guitar strums like a floating feather as Kidburn presses home the depth of yearning that fills the lyrics.

Drums pulse with guiding motion as the softness and breath warmed nature of the vocals capture me in their expression. Words spill with soulful need and ambiguous, complicated feelings while the piano trembles and the hushed notes shift like exotic flowers blooming at midnight.

A synth coruscates with unfolding light and the softly brushing vocals slip before the guitar solo seizes the music with burning sensation and a lush weight before the song stops.

The protagonist says that "she lets you in her house if you come back late at night" and she'll let you kiss her if what you say is right. He adds, "if you pay the price, she'll let you deep inside but there's a secret garden that she has." She'll let you drive around in her car as "she lets you into parts of herself that bring you down."

Our narrator continues, "she lets you in her heart if you've got to have her advice" and points out that in a secret garden one should think twice. "You're gone every night I thought you cared" to that place where "you can't remember and you can't forget." He goes on to say that she'll lead you down a path with tenderness.

"She lets you come just for enough, so you know that she's real" as she looks at you and smiles. The storyteller concludes, "she's got a secret garden where everything you want, everything you need will always stay."

Conclusion

“Lost In Paradise” ranks with my favourites of the year so far. The way in which it integrates all of its elements produces music that is incredibly satisfying and enjoyable to engage with. The fact that so many first-rate artists also brought their skills into the project makes the end result even more pleasing for me.