“We are your friends.”
French composer Emeric Levardon, also known as Hollywood Burns, is back with his sophomore album, The Age of the Saucers. With the debut’s concept taking on the perspective of the alien invaders, telling the story of their joyful and successful invasion of planet earth, it’s sequel The Age of the Saucers takes place several years later on post-apocalyptic earth, following a narrative of the planet in chaos. This time the perspective has shifted to the final few humans who are attempting to survive what is left of their planet.
The Age of the Saucers opens with the cinematic overtones and dramatic nature that Invaders offered up. Opener “Once Upon a Time in Hell” opts for strings underlined but a tense beat, with the title track entering listeners into the fray of the album. The percussion on the live drums is mixed in exquisitely, smoothly fitting in with the layers of synth and keys of the the track. In what is the first of many interesting and fun samples, what one can only assume is a French horn calls out onto “The Age of the Saucers”. The choir vocals used in the final act give the track a certain humanity, tying into the aforementioned perspective.
The aggression is turned up a notch for “Abomination from Planet X”, with some groovy deep bass partnering with some pounding drums and roaring synths. There is a retro feel to some of the synths used later on in the track, sounding as if they are used in a eccentric manner on purpose. While the gleeful nature of those synths make for a fun listen, the heavier moments on the track at the beginning and end are the high points here. A moment of respite from the booming synths is presented in “A Moment of Bliss”, a fitting title for some of the beautiful synth work on the interlude. The gentle keys and glistening backing tracks bring an emotional element to the album.
Normal service resumes on “Saturday Night Screamer”, with blasting synths and heavy beats whirring around the track. The synths and sampling used make for a track that will leave you subconsciously bobbing your head. The racing beat is infectious, leaving “Saturday Night Screamer” as one of the standout tracks on The Age of the Saucers. It’s also where the video-game style sampling works best, the sound of laser beams and lyrical repetition of “We are your friends” filling the track towards in end, giving life to the narrative that Hollywood Burns is telling on the record.
As the saying goes, good things comes in threes. Following on the highlight of the previous track, “Fallen Haven” and “Silent Fortress” bring that saying true. The former of the two fills the ear with bouncy synths and an expansive hook that carries the first act of the track. There is a noticeable shift in tone on the track too, with the atmosphere shrouded in a layer of darkness. The final act of “Fallen Haven” opens with some string work before the bouncy synths seen earlier have an extra oomph added to them, serving to up the pace and tension. The structure used to tell a story within this single track is done better than some story telling across many entire concept albums. Further, “Silent Fortress” is a track of excellent experimentation, sounding and feeling more like a pop rock song than much of the typical synthwave sound of the record thus far. The soaring synths fill the void of what would traditionally be vocals, with the drums hammering in the back. A solo filling the tracks crescendo into some trance-esque beats top off the best trio of tracks on The Age of the Saucers.
A return to Hollywood Burns’ traditional sound comes in the form of “Fear in the Eye of the Tyrant”, the continued excellent synth work is coupled with some of the busiest drumming on the track. The cymbal work audible throughout the track to offer up a shift in sound. Midway through a breakdown is called in by some trance style synths to push the track into its second half. The synths and the drums here once again blend in perfectly to create their combined sound.
Power metal vocals once again return in “Skylords”, a track about a man trying to convince his girlfriend to be abducted by the aliens. It’s quite a cheesy song, with the vocals clearly over the top and sonically being dramatic. It’s one that on certain listens can be somewhat unbearable to listen to, even with some solid guitar work complimenting the track. On a harsher viewpoint, it could be seen as a wasted opportunity to have a vocal feature track that at times can prove to be much more popular to a wider audience. However, “The Heist of Area 51″ rounds The Age of the Saucers nicely with the excellent synthwork and drumming that is present throughout the album. Although there is possibly not enough in this closer to discern it from what has come before, and give it the grandiose nature of a typical album closer.
There is a lot to enjoy with The Age of the Saucers, and Emeric Levardon’s talent as a composer is evident throughout. The variation in sampling, synth work and instrumentals prevent the album falling victim to the staleness than many of its counterparts have done. A clear, well-told narrative and perspective add to this, and further assist in keeping it consistently engaging. Tracks such as “Fallen Haven” and “Silent Fortress” demonstrate take the Hollywood Burns project in a different direction and deliver up some of the best tracks the album has to offer. Despite the tail off in quality towards the end, The Age of the Saucers as a whole manages to remain one of the best synthwave albums released this year.
The Age of Saucers will release on November 12th via Blood Music. You can find pre-orders here, and our interview with Hollywood Burns here.
8.5/10