SINNER DC
Future That Never Happened 
MG083
Mental Groove Records 2012
10 Tracks. 48mins48secs

Amazon UK: CD

After a stint on now defunct AI Records, Geneva-based trio Sinner DC are back on home soil with their seventh album, Future That Never Happened, published on Mental Groove Records, an imprint located in the band’s home city. Formed at the tail-end of the nineties by Julien Amey, Manuel Bravo and Steve Mamie, Sinner DC released their debut album, Panoramic, on Noise Product in 1998. Originally a relatively conventional pop/noise outfit, Sinner DC have since progressively turned to more a experimental sound, infused with electronics and driven by club music rather than traditional rock. After publishing records on Spirit Of Jungle, Polaris or Tritone, the trio landed a deal with AI Records in 2006 and went on to release the rather brilliant Mount Age (2006) and Crystalized (2009) albums, as well as one accompanying EP for each album.

Since Mount Age, the trio have been refining their warm blend of analogue electronics, processed guitars and breathy vocals, and Future That Never Happened very much picks up where its predecessor left off. The album is built around the loose story of an imaginary teenage girl who has ran away from home. Whilst this may in some way link the songs together, it is the music which binds this record into an extremely coherent and polished affair. Sinner DC continuously distill hypnotic grooves, hazy backdrops, guitars in various states of decomposition and processing, and ethereal vocals which are there almost more for textural purpose than to occupy any concrete role, adding to the overall moody aspect of the album. Future… flows effortlessly from one end to the other, the trio consciously keeping to a particular tone throughout, whether through upbeat pieces (TC, Statues, Day/Night, Futures, The Horizon) or more atmospheric compositions (Hey Girl, Dreamliner, Where She Goes). The melodies are often haunting and are articulated around few key motifs for each songs.

The album opens with recent single Endless Valley, served by recurring stabs of electric guitar and an ominous groove, but as instrumental piece TC kicks in, the mood lifts somewhat. The band alternate then between songs and instrumentals throughout, allowing tracks such as Statues, Dreamliner or Dreem to develop without vocal constraints. But it is with their songs that Sinner DC excel, whether it is with the moody ambience of Endless Valley or the melancholic Hey Girl or Where She Comes, where melodies, although clearly defined, appear loose or partially fractured on one side, or the more driven Statues, Futures or Day/Night, the latter being this album’s undoubtable highlight.

All throughout, the sound remain pretty constant, never veering far from this album’s core components. This could result in an altogether too similar series of songs, but Sinner DC manage to filter through and create songs which, while all baring a familiar feel, manage to catch the attention individually as much as they feel like coherent parts of a single unit. Whilst it perhaps doesn’t quite match the refined elegance of Mount Age, Future That Never Happened remains pretty much without equals and stands out from this year’s crop for all the right reasons.

4.7/5

Sinner DC | Mental Groove Records
Amazon UK: CD