reviews / 2019

THE PRESENT MOMENT - Split

Name: THE PRESENT MOMENT – Split
Item: Split
Rating: 7
Author: Giancarlo Punzi

2019 (Oráculo)

darkwave, electro

by Giancarlo Punzi

The '80s just don't seem to want to die. Especially in the States, a country that, evidently, has over the long haul proven to have raised a synthetic youth far more resistant to the passage of time than its English counterpart. The undergrowth of synthesizers and glacial, post-punk sounds has pervaded the stars and stripes for years now, and The Present Moment arrives at its fourth album with "Split".

Milton Scott, from Los Angeles, California—vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and sole mastermind behind the project—seems to be hinting, through the album's title, at the very nature of this record, split into two distinct halves, two very different moments in time. Side A of the vinyl, written, played and produced in Germany with the collaboration of longtime ally Philipp Münch (The Rorschach Garden), follows the rules of the synth-minimalism that now dominates the crowded scene.

Our Dr. Scott, however, seems to be one of the few who also absorbed one of the fundamental lessons of the '80s: melodic structure. Songwriting. He appears to be free of that prevailing nihilistic approach which seems almost ashamed of arrangement and melody, preferring instead to rely on the chill of endless reverb and a handful of drawn-out chords.

No, Milton has a warm heart, and he proves it across an album that builds steadily, mutating and progressing track by track. And while the vocals on "Remember You" sound like a dandy adrift on icy wastes, "New Day (In Another Dimension)" recalls a more "domesticated" Fad Gadget. The track is also a reworking of "A New Day" from "Loyal To A Fault", the 2011 album produced by the Italian label Mannequin. Same arrangement, but with a slight sonic revamp.

Written, recorded and produced in Los Angeles, this time with the help of Justin Dunn (The Luxury), it's Side B, however, that holds the best and most interesting material. So when the path of "Split", in constant evolution, starts to stratify, seeking out elegant arrangements. "Running For Miles" runs along the tracks of Depeche Mode, but that guitar seems to steer the whole train straight toward the wall Floyd-ian. The muffled stride of "Looking In" is held up by sinuous arpeggiators interlocking with an elegant violin, a funk guitar and a sumptuous, determined melodic line, and beat industrial sounds linking the sections together, making it one of the album's most convincing tracks.

Even more surprising is the little gem that closes the album. Despite a distorted opening, the guitars and melodic line of "Piece Of You" can't help but evoke the most melancholic season of new wave, with melodic lines and guitars recalling the Chameleons, right up to a chorus whose opening carries the ghost of Ultravox's epic grandeur, for one of the most convincing vocal performances Milton Scott has ever put on record.

Probably, to date, The Present Moment's finest work.

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03/04/2019

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This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Giancarlo Punzi, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.

Read the original in Italian · About the English edition