Tracks:
1. Intro: 7/10 an overdone opener that isn't without a certain wonder and charm. It might cause a headache though.
2. Midnight City: 9/10 this brilliant and brilliantly catchy tribute to city nightlife is so infectious and addictive its popularity is not surprising.
3. Reunion: 7/10 this one tries to distract from its slightly naff, overdone nature by being really loud and rousing. This technique often works.
4. Where the Boats Go: 8/10 a beautiful but sadly too short instrumental.
5. Wait: 7/10 this song makes me sad, but is this just because it's associated with The Fault in Our Stars? It's kind-of naff but it does its job and tugs on the heartstrings.
6. Raconte-Moi Une Histoire: 6/10 the driving synthesizer beat is good, but the frog story is just annoying.
7. Train to Pluton: 7/10 short and samey, but sweet.
8. Claudia Lewis: 6/10 your enjoyment of this will depend on your tolerance for rousing but hopelessly overdone electronic musical gymnastics and abstract space-related lyrics.
9. This Bright Flash: 8/10 a thoroughly loud and enjoyable track with more of a rock vibe. Here the epic, sappy and overdone nature of the album works.
10. When Will You Come Home?: 7/10 nice to listen to but expendable as it's short and doesn't necessarily add an awful lot to the album.
11. Soon My Friend: 6/10 my feelings about this are more or less the same as the other songs on the album, so I won't keep writing out the same thing.
12. My Tears are Becoming a Sea: 6/10 the equivalent of a manipulative Hollywood tear-jerker: powerful but not necessarily that well done.
13. New Map: 6/10 this is supposed to the track on side 2 that's a mirror of Midnight City. Well, if it matches it in terms of lyrics and structure it certainly doesn't in terms of quality.
14. Ok Pal: 7/10 overdone but certainly not the worst and a decently enjoyable one.
15. Another Wave from You: 7/10 a bit of filler for sure, but ironically the filler in this album is pretty good as the filler songs lean on very attractive instrumentals.
16. Splendor: 6/10 a gentle and quiet one, this could either be seen as peaceful and mesmerizing or just one-note.
17. Year One, One UFO: 6/10 this one isn't easy to listen to and is less enjoyable than most of the album. Then again, it represents a bit of experimentation by the band which is always welcome.
18. Fountains: 7/10 another nice bit of filler.
19. Steve McQueen: 7/10 despite the normal excesses, in this case this works towards capturing a real sense of euphoria.
20. Echoes of Mine: 7/10 despite having the best lyrics on the album, it's all in French! Still, the musical peaks hit particularly hard here.
21. Klaus I Love You: 7/10 like most of the instrumentals on the album: too short, but nice to listen to.
22. Outro: 9/10 meaningless lyrics aside, this is truly an epic of epicness which is utter musical euphoria. This isn't a phenomenal album but it ends on a phenomenal note.
Best song: Outro
Worst song: Raconte-Moi Une Histoire
Summary: This is a difficult album to judge. It's certainly a rousing experience. It's full of beautiful electronic instrumentals, wondrous dream-like atmospherics and euphoric, cinematic high notes. Midnight City and Outro are brilliant tunes as well. But here's the big question: is it actually any good? You'd have to be robotic not to be moved by this music in some way, but mightn't that be a distraction from the samey musical structures, slightly naff and overly sentimental lyrics and frequent prioritization over loud crescendos instead of real artistry? It's an enjoyable, occasionally brilliant record, but it is deeply flawed and while it provides a moving listen, it's good in a more superficial way. Still, if this is your thing you're in for a real, real treat and we'll always have the wonderful Midnight City baseline being overplayed endlessly- as it simply is that catchy.
Final rating: 6/10
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