Simon RushworthBlack Futures – Never Not Nothing (Music For Nations)
Synth punk? Black Futures are a mind-bending amalgam of Depeche Mode, Ministry, Frank Carter and the Pet Shop Boys: no wonder the brazen Brit duo are blazing a trail for a genre that hardly boasts a glut of talented flag bearers.
Never Not Nothing is not for the faint hearted. It’s a full-on aural assault that often favours sheer energy above all else. The lyrics are powerful if occasionally trite and the rhythms pummelling rather than proactive but you have to admire the ardent belief underpinning a belter of a record.
Me.TV is Black Futures in a nutshell. Everybody against everybody else/That’s your mentality is the prevailing message and if the sentiment is familiar then there’s rarely been a more forceful approach to hammering home a societal truth. It’s in complete contrast to the more considered Karma Ya Dig! – a glimpse into Black Futures’ future as a more persuasive and mature songwriting team.
Never Not Nothing is raw, real and ready for anything. Its short, sharp shocks of piercing electronic rock cut through the background noise to create a simmering soundtrack for 2019’s troubled times. Cliched? Perhaps. Naïve? Maybe. But Black Futures mean what they say and say it with some conviction.
