Crozet: We’ll Be Gone By Then
Crozet: We’ll Be Gone By Then– Crozet are a synth pop duo from New Jersey. Channeling influences from electronic masters like M83, Crozet craft pop songs in a sometimes lo-fi vain, but maintain an upbeat tone throughout their debut with masterful skill. Synth pop has taken a number of different forms over the years, but few of those artists actually have the crossover appeal that Crozet has. This is primarily because their vocals, along with the ambitious programming, etc., are quite exceptional, but I’ll get into that later…
We’ll Be Gone By Then begins somewhat misleadingly with light, airy synths and vocals over a steady beat before seamlessly transitioning into a slightly faster and more vocalized Just Wait. From there, Neon, driven by a steady beat and deep synths seems to add a little more to the puzzle. By this point, I thought I had figured out what these guys were about and I was impressed. Then it continued… On The Line begins and you’re treated to a very upbeat and tremendously vocalized effort that I really didn’t see coming. And just when you think it can’t get any better, they hit you with their strongest track of the record, Closed Shades. From here, songs with varied-tempos and synth-driven beats round out the album until it coasts to a near-perfect ending.
This all lends to a concept that, whether intentional or not, does something that artists rarely, if ever, do: Crozet crafts their album in such a way that leads the listener down a breadcrumb trail to their ethos as a band. While I don’t expect to hear this repeated very often, I sincerely hope they continue it on their sophomore record. Not to be missed…9.8/10