Future Clouds & Radar – Self-Titled

The conventional wisdom these days is that we are moving away from the era of full-length albums and into a time when individual songs, available as downloads, will be the primary focus of musical interest. Those who champion the return of the single forget that singles co-existed with albums for at least a couple of decades. Future Clouds & Radar have enough bright, catchy pop songs that could easily turn heads one song a time, but their debut album, two CDs and 27 tracks worth of enchantment, shows that the long-form statement isn’t done yet.

Robert Harrison was the singer and songwriter in Cotton Mather, a somewhat more straightforward pop-rock band that released three albums before disappearing in 2001. With a new assortment of collaborators devoted to fulfilling his wildest visions, Harrison is back with a record distilling even more influences than the Beatles/Guided By Voices styles of his previous band. The songs are richly melodic, ranging from short but powerful bare-bones hooks to thickly arranged, fully developed compositions featuring horns, keyboards, and other additions to the basic rock band format.

At first listen, a few obvious singles insinuate themselves — the hopeful “You Will Be Loved”, the memorable “Dr. No”, the bittersweet “Build Havana”. Three or four truly odd sound experiments serve little function but to separate other songs, and the second half of the second disc holds fewer charms than the rest. Still, for an hour and a half, Future Clouds & Radar convince us that one band can provide enough variety and cohesion to make the album format still seem viable.