ALBUM REVIEW: DYSTOPIAN FUTURE MOVIES - TIME

DYSTOPIAN FUTURE MOVIES
TIME
Post Rock, Atmospheric Sludge Metal, Dream Pop.
Oak Island Records
Listening Format: CD











Dystopian Future Movies are an Atmospheric Rock trio from Nottingham, England and this is their debut album 'Time'. Their music is written by vocalist and guitarist Caroline Cawley with apt lyrics that seem to evoke a fear of things to come. DFM have built up their own signature style of writing that combines elements of Post Rock combined with the classic loudQUIETloud formula. Though their songs tend to average the 5-6 minute mark (as opposed to Post Rock's often lengthier dirges), they often build up slowly and gradually, ebbing and flowing between soft, Ambient textured and atmospheric clean guitar passages, and loud and explosive distorted guitar sections. Whilst this is far from a new or unique approach, it is the genuine delivery and craft of this band that helps them to stand out.

'Time' has been produced by drummer Bill Fisher (who also plays in Church of the Cosmic Skull alongside Caroline), and excellently so as one of the biggest selling points of this debut full length is how lush and realised everything sounds. For just a guitar, bass, drums and vocal trio their music genuinely sounds bigger than the sum of its parts. There are many subtle textures to be heard, whether it is a guitar effect here, or a buried vocal line there, revealing themselves further with each listen. Even when the drums are playing at a steady, slow pace, they are always interesting, adding a hypnotic quality, and then booming into life with choppy fills and aggressive playing when necessary (check out the intro to 'Dulled Gilt'). Caroline Cawley's voice and guitar sound are completely inseparable. The two always play in complete harmony with each other as the songs build. Every clean guitar passage will be complimented with a hushed and fragile vocal that verges on a whisper, whilst every distorted riff that soars into Sludge Metal will be accompanied with Caroline's gnarlier screams and howls. She is clearly the real star of the band and her voice and use of melancholic chord progressions often grab the listener and are full of genuine moments of darkness as well as beauty.

In particular lead single 'Pieces' sums up exactly what DFM do best all in one track. The dynamics of the song are teasing and alluring. Just as the song feels like it is going to explode into thundering riffs, the trio will suddenly pull back into soft and slow dreamy rock again. It takes a couple of builds up and crescendos before that momentum they allude to fires into life, taking the listener on that journey. 'Fortunate Ones' is another huge highlight on the album and certainly the most "Metal" song here. The track bursts into life much sooner with pounding drums and chugging riffs, whilst still holding on to that fragility that haunts their sound and writing style. But perhaps my favourite track of all is the beautiful 'Inertia'. This song has the brightest production and the most colourful sound, lead by mostly clean guitar that recalls Smashing Pumpkins 'Mayonaise'. 'Inertia' is a perfectly placed centrepiece on the album and the liveliest and prettiest track. Whilst I genuinely enjoy all seven tracks on this album, the way the album ends is a little underwhelming. 'Fugitive Minds' is a good track but just as it feels like the song is building to its climax, a misplaced fade out interrupts the song all too early. It feels like the studio engineer yelled "Time's up!" and cut them off mid song. 'Fugitive Minds' not only feels unfinished, but it leaves the album without a powerful finale that it so deserved. I feel like 'Forgotten Ones' would have served as a much better climax to the album, or at just 37 minutes, something else could have come in to close off the album. At least DFM have sent me off wanting more, in what is genuinely the only detracting moment on the record.

Dystopian Future Movies have successfully built on the promise of their fantastic EPs and delivered one of the most emotive and haunting Rock/Metal album's I have heard this year. For a debut album, 'Time' is a more than solid surface to leap off and I expect DFM will go on to even greater things in the future! Recommended for fans of Chelsea Wolfe, Slint, True Widow and Esben & the Witch. 8/10.

AN INTERVIEW WITH DYSTOPIAN FUTURE MOVIES

Dystopian Future Movies are a Post Metal trio from Nottingham, although with such diverse sounds and influences, there is no easy way to describe this band, so I thought I would ask them directly! The band have two fantastic EPs under their belt and are gearing up for a UK tour with Fvnerals starting in October and a debut full length to follow!



I chatted with Caroline Cawley, Emily Azadpour and Bill Fisher about Irish Folk music, Nottinghamshire and of course, dystopian future movies!

Photo Credit: Elmore Photography

How did the three of you come together to form Dystopian Future Movies?  

Caroline: I had been writing some basic song ideas and looking for a drummer to collaborate with when I met Bill. Emily and I had been friends for a while, she had always wanted to play bass... So with similar taste in music it made sense for us to get together.  

You have a diverse sound that takes elements of Post Metal, Atmospheric Rock and Indie, how would you describe your sound in your own words?  

Bill: Caroline describes it as ‘detrimental’. Not detrimental to anything, just ‘detrimental’. Which somehow does make sense. 

Caroline: I think our sound is dark, atmospheric and dynamic. The melodic vocal brings a spooky element, it hooks you into the darker elements. 

Who do you consider to be your biggest music influences?  

Caroline: I heard everything from Rush and Thin Lizzy to Julie Tzuke as I toddled round my house from a very young age so I have a broad palette where influences are concerned! The delicacy and heart on sleeve nature of contemporary Irish folk music was something that made a massive impression. My dad and I would travel to see Mary Black in concert when I was 9 years old and I'd sing every word. Her interpretations of Noel Brazil’s Sparks Might Fly and Columbus have stuck with me since I was a small child. Heartbreaking and vulnerable lyrically, a wistfulness drawn out by her pure vocal. I am drawn to troubling chords, dissonance, whether in subject matter or musically. Crushingly heavy riffs were something I got into more as teenager. Memorably, hearing a track called All Is Forgiven on San Francisco band Jellyfish’s second album blew my mind wide open and showed me that intense melody can be fused with cacophonous noise to incredible effect.  

Bill: Drummers that have influenced my approach to this band would include old favourites such as Billy Cobham and Jimmy Chamberlain, and notably Hozoji Matheson-Margullis of Helms Alee, who has a really unusual approach. Caroline always frowns at straight rock beats, so I’m always looking to add something more off-kilter. Bill Ward said he tried to play like an orchestral percussionist, thinking in terms of dynamics and texture, which I try to apply to this music.  When we get to the arrangement stage in DFM, I try to keep Hounds of Love (Kate Bush album) in mind. It’s sonically very different, but the structures are often based around one pattern or riff which repeats and builds to awesome crescendos.  

Emily: That’s a tough one! I grew up in a small seaside town in Scotland where dance music was popular, along with Britpop.. It was only when I left for university that I was introduced by friends to a whole new world of other genres. Neil Young, Nirvana, My Bloody Valentine, Jeff Buckley, Pavement and the Pixies are just a few of the bands I remember coming to quite late on, hearing them for the first time and feeling an affinity with that music that I’d never felt before listening to anything else. 

DFM is based in Nottingham, what is the music and arts scene like there?  

Emily: There is a thriving independent music and art scene in Nottingham. We have some great DIY venues including the Chameleon, JT Soar and the Lofthouse in collaboration with passionate local independent promoters such as Buttonpusher, I’m Not From London, Default This and Thee Cosmic Goat. Nottingham feels like a very exciting place to be creating music at the moment and we feel lucky to be part of such a diverse yet inclusive and supportive artistic community. 

Your latest EP "NYD" is fantastic, how did you find the writing and recording process?  

Caroline: Thank you! NYD was written very quickly in one sitting. It came from a very raw place lyrically and seemed to just flow out of me that morning as I sat strumming a melody I had come up with a few days previous. It evolved an apocalyptic ending when I took it to Bill and Emily at band practice. Hopefully the emotional confusion of the song comes across in the ebb and flow.  

Bill: NYD and Nova were both recorded with Joff Spittlehouse in The Old Library [in Nottinghamshire] which has a large theatre room. This gave us great natural reverb and thus a huge drum sound.  

Emily: After recording the first four track EP ourselves, it was a new and exciting experience to work in another studio with someone else engineering. It was interesting to have the input of someone outside of the band and discover the different ways that could influence the recording outcome.  Joff was amazing, very patient and accommodating, we really felt at home recording in his studio. 

Name some of your favourite dystopian future movies, and can you explain how they influence your music?  

DFM: La Jetee (the precursor for 12 Monkeys), Brazil, Children of Men, Blade Runner, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Dr Strangelove and Network are a few that come to mind.  Movies such as this have a sinister edge, they have a visual as well as a sonic dissonance. There is notable light and shadow and we feel that contrast is similar to our musical dynamic. People have described our music as cinematic or like a soundtrack. Maybe we will have the opportunity to work on a movie in the future. 

Bill:  It’s really the feeling that these types of film create which is similar to our sound. Darkness, epicness, claustrophobia, ‘detriment’... 

What else influences you outside of music and film?  

Caroline: Words. Patti Smith’s Just Kids came to me at a significant turning point in my life and threw some doors open for me. Having surrounded myself in other people’s art; be it film or music all of life, after reading that book I suddenly felt capable or that anything was possible and that maybe my own artistic story was just beginning. I think as I've gotten older I've realised that self expression, creativity and the self-awareness they bring are fundamental to our happiness and functionality. I am also hugely inspired by the kids I teach. My class are only 8 and come from very diverse cultural and religious backgrounds but amid the current political turmoil; the hope, enthusiasm and accepting nature of my kids is a much more positive reality to get up for every day!  

Emily: Lots of things really! Friends, teachers, films and books that I stumble upon or people recommend. I developed an interest in photography relatively recently having lived in Berlin whilst studying  a Liberal Arts course. I was introduced to analogue photography and discovered a love for the dark room and the feeling that film photography evokes. Living in Berlin was very inspiring to me because of how rich the city is in terms of culture and history. That whole experience was very influential, I met some amazing and inspiring people and rediscovered a desire to be involved in doing something creative as part of a group. That want had lain dormant for a long time and I hadn’t realised how much it was lacking in my life. I’m so happy to have the opportunity to play bass with two of my closest friends.  

You have shows announced all over the UK, what are you looking forward to most on this tour?  

Emily: Playing some of our new songs and trying out a new set. I am really looking forward to seeing parts of the country I’ve not seen before.  Hanging with Fvnerals again, of course! 

Bill: We’ve not played many southern venues before as our previous tour was just the midlands and the north. It will be great to be touring with Fvnerals again as they are awesome people and an amazing band. You hear nightmare tour stories where bands fall out but everyone involved is really chilled and genuinely professional.  

Caroline: We both really like each other’s bands and it’s pretty exciting to see one of your favourite bands play every night and watch them evolve.  

Your music is available digitally and on CD. Physical music is seeing a welcome resurgence now, what are your personal favourite formats to listen to music on?  

Caroline: As I was growing up it was tape and then I moved on to cd when I could buy music myself with pocket money. Over 15 years I collected hundreds of CDs! Because I mainly listen to music on the go now, it’s mainly digital. I do really miss the artwork and liner notes, when I can afford it, I’d love to buy my favourite albums on vinyl.  

Bill: We are going to release our first album on vinyl.  

Caroline: We have already discussed the artwork, I’d love to include the lyrics.  

What does the future hold for DFM, and what are your plans after the tour is finished?  

Bill: We have just recorded our first full length album in-house [home studio] and it is sounding massive! It is due for release on CD and vinyl early next year. We will tour and do some festivals on the back of that release, hopefully in Europe.  

With all the uncertainty in British politics right now, do you feel like a dystopia lays in our future, or are we already in a dystopia?  

Bill: The prophesies of many dystopian movies and novels have undoubtedly come true however we are still fortunate enough to be able to create art and music. May that continue. 

...And to leave on a more positive note, what would each of you describe as being your perfect day off work?  

Bill: Sitting down in a sunny beer garden. 

Caroline: Amazing live music, nice beers, great friends and laughter.  

Emily: I like to nap, daytime naps are good, and food, so those things, preferably with good friends in the sunshine near the sea and a dog or two.. 


Thank you to Dystopian Future Movies for taking the time to chat. Here are their upcoming tour dates!