Jukebox: Future Relative - Deep End

I'll admit, "Deep End" caught me totally by surprise. When I read the description of the song and saw it was "electronic" and a similar group mentioned was The XX, I immediately expected the worst. While The XX themselves are quite good, a lot of electronic of that style falls into the generalized category of "boring," and with some less-than-ideal experiences in the genre of quasi-dark electronic, I didn't have much by way of hopes for the song. However, the song is actually fantastic. Far from being boring, it's a dark, brooding, synthy song hitting every right note in terms of being vivid and lifelike yet staying true to its original style.

Of course a song in this dark, almost synth-pop style is going to be eerie and sullen, but Future Relative doesn't make the mistake of accidentally sounding like a not-really-goth high schooler instead of a "king of the night" of sorts. Rather, you can feel the energy of the piece pulsing through every kick of the bass drum, every distorted, static-laden bass note, every clean vocal line in the song. The almost-industrial drums and guitars smack of Nine Inch Nails in his prime, and the song as a whole is a mashup of industrial sounds and some excellently dark synths that don't quite fit the industrial label. And yet the choruses still manage to be insanely catchy and almost sing-along with the infectious singing, something that bodes well for the piece as a whole. Overall, "Deep End" is a solid piece of musical dark chocolate: bitter and brooding yet still retaining some poppy elements, which make it an absolutely worthwhile song.

You can stream "Deep End" and watch the video for the song here.

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