Legendary synth-pop masters A Flock Of Seagulls return with a brand new release. Heavily promoted with “Some Dreams” and “Him,” two excellent singles you should immediately check out, “Some Dreams” is their first full-length album since 1995. Led by charismatic Mike Score, A Flock Of Seagulls continues to push the boundaries of synth music with ten outstanding compositions, fully stacked with brilliant ideas, marvelous musicianship, astounding arrangements, and sound quality that meets all the trends in contemporary music production. A Flock Of Seagulls may be known for their lush synth-pop and synth wave sound, often connected to the new romantics era, but the band also combines many different but complementary music genres to illustrate such luxuriant sonic imagery. You’ll notice how some of the finest properties borrowed from new wave, synth rock, electronic rock, pop rock, retro, and contemporary pop found their way into this sonic equation. Mike Score and A Flock Of Seagulls use all these additional elements as more than necessary embellishments and enhancements to elevate an already perfect album to even greater heights. These experimentations resulted in a comprehensive collection of catchy, memorable, engaging, marvelous songs that will immediately wrap around your listening apparatus and refuse to let go long after this album ends.
“Some Dreams” commences with the title track, a perfect opener that vividly showcases what you might expect from the remainder of the album. As soon as you press play, this composition transports you into otherwordly ambiance where lush synth sequences, melodies, leads, and other sonic delicacies perfectly articulate with equally impressive basslines and energetic rhythmic structures. Mike Score’s vocal harmonies sound divine. His vocal performance commands attention and guides the listening apparatus while emphasizing every segment and instrumentation. The impressive vocal range seamlessly balances low, mid, and high notes with precision and finesse, decorating everything the band intended to do with this song. This epic sonic voyage continues with “Him,” another exceptional number that immediately evokes some eighties new romantic, new wave, synth wave, and synth-pop era. This time, the synth leads, themes, melodies, and harmonies are more reverby, echoic, and anthemic, serving as a perfect backdrop for Mike Score’s vocal performance to shine. The band also introduces multiple guitar layers, which flawlessly pair with all those synth maneuvers. The generous servings of studio reverb applied over all those chord progressions and accentuations contribute to this cathartic listening experience, making “Him” a song worth spinning over and over again. “Castles In The Sky” is another standout track, a tastefully written and composed ballad. The song arrives with a perfect structure, adorned with many intricate segments, and marvelous orchestrations. A Flock Of Seagulls aimed for a more otherworldly, heavenly, transcendental ambiance with this one, and they ultimately achieved that by stacking so many layers of soothing synth works, catchy chord progressions delivered on acoustic guitars, and half-time rhythmic patterns. The band returns to more energetic rhythms with “Lovers And Strangers,” another standout number that flawlessly marries synth pop and new wave sensibilities with almost post-punk guitar works. With this composition, A Flock Of Seagulls showcases a sound that made them so popular in the first place. It brings back some of the finest of the eighties synth and new romantic music to the table with impressive synth sequences, arpeggiated chord progressions, equally intricate basslines, and energetic drum beats. “You’re A Fool” brings some darker tones to this material. It’s one of those songs where some of the finest elements borrowed from goth pop and post-punk collide with A Flock Of Seagulls’ synth pop and synthwave core. Mike Score proves once again that he’s a brilliant songwriter, composer, and musician who knows how to apply different musical styles to an already established sound to deliver a fresh, unique, diverse, exciting, and entertaining listening experience that will appeal to not only the long-standing fans of the band but also those newbies to synthpop genre.
“All To You” continues at the same pace, but with a more straightforward synth-pop and new wave sonic maneuvers included along the way. Once again, A Flock Of Seagulls delivers rich and luxurious synth themes, melodies, and harmonies paired with catchy guitar works and equally intricate basslines. These profoundly detailed, audible, warm-sounding low-ends rumble beneath synth and guitar works, providing heaviness, clarity, and depth while binding all the orchestrations with rhythmic patterns. The superb drumming performance based upon tastefully assembled, flawlessly performed, well-accentuated, moderate beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics keeps the remainder of the instrumentations in line while dictating the groove and tempo. It’s a perfect love ballad that will unquestionably appeal to A Flock Of Seagulls fans. The best part about “Some Dreams” is the diversity of these compositions. For example, “Valley Of The Broken Dreams” brings some of the finest sonic ingredients borrowed from late seventies, eighties, and early nineties electronic music to the table. These elements are perfectly paired with the band’s synth-pop and synth-wave aesthetics. In the meantime, “We Want It Back Again” delivers that recognizable goth pop, goth rock, post-punk, shoegaze, and dream pop sound of the eighties where the heavy beats and catchy basslines pair with dreamy synths and robotic vocals. The generous servings of reverb and echo give this track a dreamy, ethereal quality that will appeal to even the pickiest music enthusiasts. On the other hand, “Got To Get You” levitates between their recognizable sound and some modern sounds. For example, you’ll notice how those electronic rhythmic sequences are reminiscent of some modern tracks while the overall aesthetics of the song immediately remind you of some of the finest A Flock Of Seagulls works. It’s a style that serves them well, as the entire band resonates with such power, precision, and finesse from scratch to finish. The band closes this epic sonic journey with “Perfect,” a song that sums up the impression about this material. This composition floats towards indie waters with those catchy, jangly, angular chord progressions and subtle synths while the rhythm section contributes to the complexity of an already intricate composition with more warm, rich, powerful basslines and excellent rhythmic patterns. Such a perfect closure of a marvelous album that will immediately convince you to spin “Some Dreams” over again.
“Some Dreams” is a masterpiece you should immediately place on your music radar. With Mike Score’s exceptional vocal performance, luxuriant synth and guitar works, intricate basslines, and equally impressive beats, A Flock Of Seagulls created a marvelous comeback album that will appeal to even the pickiest listeners. Their experience, knowledge, skills, and ideas go beyond comprehension so many times throughout the entire album while their jaw-dropping musicianship grabs you by the collar and refuses to let go long after this album ends. It’s one of the finest synth-pop albums you’ll hear this year. “Some Dreams” is available as a 4xCD box set via A Flock Seagulls official website and digitally via all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it!
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