Rating: NNNN
DFA Records stalwarts the Juan MacLean (Juan MacLean and frequent collaborator Nancy Whang) open their first proper long-player in five years with A Place Called Space – a proggy, Moroderesque epic with a dramatic introduction that turns wistfully reflective as outer space becomes a metaphor for inner emotional emptiness.
It’s a good primer for what’s to come: studiously produced synth jams infused with melancholic New Romanticism and mixed with rock ‘n’ roll bombast. Best known for club singles like Happy House, MacLean has always been more house-/techno-oriented than his disco-obsessed DFA labelmates, and In A Dream plays like dance music for fans of prog rock.
Sparkling arpeggios and sublime atmospherics undercut the loneliness and desperation in MacLean and Whang’s singing (the latter’s is the stronger of the two’s), giving tension to the confident and frequently beautiful production.
Top track: Running Back To You
