It’s been a while since I last caught up with British synthpop duo Futurecop! They’ve had some pretty good moments this year.
Last time around they were opening up a burger shop and issuing a remixed version of their Fairy Tales LP, the proceeds of which benefitted the War Child organization.
This time, they’re celebrating their song “Into Your Heart” from Fairy Tales landing a placement in Cameron Crow’s Showtime show Roadies and the release of their Lost Tapes compilation of lost, original and unreleased tracks from the past seven years.
Roadies marks the second time a non-80s retro project has licensed a Futurecop! cut in recent years. In 2014, the Sam Esmail film Comet —a dreamy romantic comedy starring Justin Long and Emmy Rossum — used the kinetic “Eyes Like the Ocean” from 2009’s Valerie and Friends compilation. (Esmail would later create the acclaimed TV series Mr. Robot.)
“We think it’s another great step for synthwave — making it into film/TV,” Futurecop!’s Manzur Iqbal wrote Vehlinggo recently. “But what’s different and good here — in our humble opinion — is that the genre of synthwave is slowly moving to a wider and broader audience, as Roadies is not an 80s-based production.”
Interestingly, despite my using the coinage when describing Futurecop!, I don’t think they’ve been synthwave for a few years. Fairy Tales was a lovely modern dream pop/synthpop record with shades of the 80s and early 90s — tapping into the colorful, synth-laden whimsy of things such as cartoon theme songs, John Hughes films and Saved By The Bell.
It turns out Iqbal has his own gripes with the synthwave label.
“To be honest, though, I see Futurecop! more as a perspective on nostalgia rather than specifically 80s revival,” he said. “Our music is always changing; it’s our own personal adventure.”
“We are not trying to re-create 80s music,” he continued. “That’s in the past. We try to encapsulate a moment from a feeling we have today, on life around us. I think this uplifting feel — mixed with what today’s filmmakers require and, obviously, fans who spread the word — is what get[s] us placements.”
You can listen to The Lost Tapes below. You can catch Roadies on Showtime. I’m pretty sure Comet is still on Netflix.
(Feature Photo: A cropped version of the cover art for The Lost Tapes. Photo credit: Futurecop!)
