Sometimes I like wistful, emotional songs with a tinge of joy. On “Outatime,” San Francisco-based FM-84 brings that about in droves, tapping into a certain kind of longing for beautiful, timeless moments.
This is bright, pop-oriented synthwave, and the memories it unlocks could be from yesterday, that weird period in the early 90s when I had lightning bolts in my hair, or even 10 years from now. Dammit, FM-84, you’re making me miss stuff that hasn’t even happened yet.
“Outatime” is part of a five-song EP, Los Angeles, that FM-84 released last week. On the collection, in a love letter to his adopted state, the Scottish-born FM-84 plays at your heartstrings in the most human of ways.
Los Angeles would almost have to be about California in order to achieve this tone. Certainly, the inspiration for sun-drenched retrosynth would be much more desperate in the land of the Scots.
