Underworld
Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future
As the Conquest of Gaul is trying to write more--and more varied--reviews, today we also take a look at one of the titans of the electronic genre, Underworld. Their first album in more than half a decade is the fantastically titled Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future, supposedly named for principal producer Rick Smith's father's last words: a sentiment both sad and immensely inspiring.
What the title phrase conjures in the mind is exactly what the album sounds like--understated, but still bursting from the seams with hope. Almost excessively elemental for Brit-electronica, Barbara Barbara is full of all the familiar, well-trodden sounds from the heady days of "Cowgirl" and "Born Slippy.NUXX," but somehow is able to combine them in such new and interesting ways that, even clocking under 45 minutes, it feels overly-generous, like receiving a gift you really don't deserve.
As a return-to-form, Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future is a masterpiece, providing any longtime fan with far more than they could ask for; but it is also such an interesting and expansive new take for a late-period album that it deserves vast dissemination to the uninitiated. It builds and builds until, finally, at the triumphant end, Underworld transform their work into a powerful statement on optimism and grace.
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