“I Thought The Future Would Be Cooler” by Yacht
We haven’t heard much from Yacht over the four years since Shangri-La dropped, but they’ve demanded our attention yet again with I Thought The Future Would Be Cooler. Yacht provides us with an energy I haven’t felt on any of their previous works. Future is every bit as synth-poppy as you’d expect from the Portland raised duo, but a mixture of unusual wailing guitars and muddy vocals keep it interesting throughout while they explore some new sonic soundscapes with a flare all their own.
The lyrical territory explored throughout Future is nothing we haven’t heard from Yacht before, but that doesn’t make the record any less fun. The poppy, upbeat, idealistic chorus belted on “Don’t Be Rude” provides a strong contrast to the verses, where we hear lines such as “I would feel much less alone / If I knew that everyone was as lonely as me.” And the track “I Wanna Fuck You Til I’m Dead” stands out as an absolutely hilarious expression of love. House-inspired closing track “The Entertainment” is fantastic and features a pounding bass line and some great glitchy synths.
However, I can’t help but feel as though Yacht is getting a little burnt out. There’s a bit less optimism on this record, and calling the record I Thought The Future Would Be Cooler fits into that. There’s a little less polish on the world than they used to think, and opening track “Miles and Miles,” sets that tone with lines such as “Just like we always have, we’re born, we live, we die,” and “In 200,000 years on Earth / We never even made a mark on her.” The negativity in the lyrics contrast the always peppy backing tracks, which creates a neat aesthetic for the album as a whole.
On previous Yacht releases I felt as though they settled a bit too much; they found their formula with their electro-pop roots and the albums dragged toward the end. Future doesn’t repeat this trend however, as the 8 minute intro track starts out slow and builds up, introducing an energy in the instrumentation that doesn’t let down as the album progresses.
Yacht has never been the most experimental, the most innovative, or the most popular act under the electro-pop umbrella, but their projects have all been fun and worth listening to. Yacht proves with Future that artistic progress is possible without deviating too far from the mean. »
– Tyler Sanford
