Aa - VoyAager (Northern Spy)

On their first US release since 2007, Aa create the cybernetic march of the future with tribal drumbeats, synthesizers and Auto-Tuned vocals, while somehow recalling the early ’80s.

VoyAager is simply an astonishing journey that demands multiple listenings – even in one sitting – just to grasp the complexity of what is happening. Several percussionists bash away at their drums with the intensity of early Swans, though without the sullen negativity as this is wholehearted celebration music. Ethereal synths create waves of electricity, electrons dancing in a furious current of mighty rebellion. The voices, though robotic in their Auto-Tuned state, add to the tribal aspect with shouted chanting, the voice of cyberpunk youth rising up against the corporate overlords.

For some inexplicable reason, the album also recalls Frankie Goes to Hollywood‘s Welcome to the Pleasuredome. Perhaps it’s the percussive melodicism, or it could just be the exuberant celebratory nature of songs that fly in the face of impending doom. The ’80s lived under the bomb – we live under the fiscal uncertainty of total economic collapse. Either way the boom is huge.

The future truly is ours to behold, and Aa remind us of that often overlooked fact. When seeking the inspiration for the data revolution, look no further than VoyAager. It will guide the way with neon fluorescence.