Album Review: Yacht – I Thought The Future Would Be Cooler
2 min read
It’s been 4 years since electronic duo Yacht (Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans) have released an official studio album. The pair has been mercilessly teasing I Thought The Future Would Be Cooler over various media platforms for months to drum up excitement for this long awaited release. It’s an album that’s trying to mix layers of electronic sound and societal matters to create a seamless social statement that you can dance too.
Taking a stab at our technologically reliant civilisation is Ringtone, a frantic tune that takes on a robotic persona to represent the desperate need we have to constantly stay connected, with Evans yelling “I’m calling look at your phone” repeatedly. Moving on strong is War On Women taking a punchy beat to imagine an idealist society where women can live without fear of the “freaks to contend with”, being sexualised and mistreated. “Stating throughout “the war is over if want it” making the listener realise that change starts within oneself.
While I Thought The Future Would Be Cooler, L.A Plays Itself and Don’t Be Rude are firecrackers of up-tempo electronic beats that are deceivingly playful songs, with hidden meanings that are easy to dance too. Unfortunately though the significance within each track doesn’t make much of an impact when they’re sung over such a wild rhythmic disco grooves.
Yacht uses I Thought The Future Would Be Cooler as a platform to discuss an assortment of issues surrounding our current society but it’s carefree style of 90s electronica and synth doesn’t give it an anchor. It’s an album that loses the message and makes it comes off sarcastic due to the craziness of the sound. Each song has a sure fire energy that never dims but it takes you in too many directions to get an understanding of what Bechtolt and Evans are trying to tell you. If you take each track as an individual and really analyse it you’ll be impressed by the nostalgic sound used to create a tune about present and future issues but together it’s just too messy to get a hold on.
