A few months ago, while on the phone with T.S., the founder of NRW, I was talking about certain trends in avant-garde styles of pop developing in London, and how it would be interesting to see these aggressively experimental musical choices manifest in the synthwave scene. With Migration 2019, Fixions has managed to craft an album that not only answers that call, but that also delights me to the point that it feels specifically made for me.

While I’m not certain if Fixions was inspired by the idiosyncrasies found in PC Music releases, some of the stylistic choices are similar, as is the sheer commitment to strangeness. The first track, “2019”, captures much of what I love on this album. The experimentation is most obvious in the chopped and pitched vocal samples, adding something in between melody and percussive textures to an already funky and catchy song. There is a playfulness in the beats in the song that is carried over into much of the rest of the album. “They Live” follows, and pulses with Daft Punk-inspired groove. Even on the darker, moodier tracks, like “Grégoire & Nathan” or “Blasterion”, Fixions manages to keep the energy to the point where the track feels like it could explode at any moment, all of which is laced with the experimentation found on the rest of the futurist android music festival that is Migration 2019.

Fixions fixation with IDM becomes more prominent as the album progresses. “Anathar”, one of the album highlights, is littered with an intricate sort of randomness, feeling at times like a synthwave Aphex Twin. There’s a spontaneity to every sound and every synth, but it all fits together seamlessly, with catchy passages connected and layered. “Entity” is a similar track, in the sense that it is composed of unexpected moments. When the song lulls you into calm moments, it builds anticipation through mesmeric lines and some of the most interesting percussive sounds I’ve ever heard in the genre – one of which resembles a blacksmith hammering an anvil. The inventive nature of the album isn’t limited to one or two production tricks being repeated. Fixions’ ability to push the album sonically in so many different directions while also giving it a distinct and unifying sound is impressive.

There really aren’t dull moments in the 14 tracks of the album. Each song has a commitment to evolution, leading you to places that you might not expect the songs to go. 2016 has been a year with a lot of interesting growth and change in the genre, and this makes me excited. Migration 2019 is one of the least generic, most original sounding releases in the genre, and is a record that feels fresh after multiple spins. Each listen has different highlights throughout the run of the entire album, but also throughout individual songs.  

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“Last Call Redwalk Districk” is a solid choice for an opener for Echo City as it establishes the aforementioned energy pretty quickly with its quick tempo and stuttering synths. The song really shines when the erratic chiptune-inspired sounds start taking over. Overall the track feels like it belongs in the soundtrack of some crossover between Mega Man and a William Gibson novel.

The following track, “Razor-Fingered Mercenary” is my favorite on the album. While the remainder of the album ranges from good to great, the second track is something truly special. It is a very upbeat song with a lot of surprising quirks. Just as you become used to what a certain section of the song is doing something out of nowhere happens and catches you off guard. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Kaleido Drive had played in a metalcore or pop-punk band. Moments in this song feel a lot like breakdowns from both genres, and the effect is excellent. “Over The Beach” also has this kind of breakdown-esque sound, as well as slight chip-tune flourishes and stutter effects.  Halfway through the song there is a run that goes from snare to kick to snare to kick in such a way that I would be very surprised to hear it wasn’t written on a drum set.

I wouldn’t call any of the songs on this album bad, but “Modular Nights” and “Nineteen Eighty Drive” are two of the weakest offerings that the album has.  They are good at showcasing what sounds like a strong hip-hop influence, but the latter in particular gets a little redundant with its melody.

My earlier focus on the high energy of Echo City is not to discredit the chilled songs. “Skylight Girl” is another album highlight and it finds the album at its most subdued with an extremely interesting opening beat. I can see “Liquid Criminal” being a divisive song within the community. Some of the quirks in it can be off-putting. That being said, it works more often than it doesn’t and I found myself listening to the song multiple times on my first listen through the album. “Her Future” and “His Future” both close the album. This is both a blessing and a curse as the songs compliment each other really well, but I found myself enjoyed “Her Future” in its entirety. While “His Future” is a good song, “Her Future” is a phenomenal song that brings together a lot of what made the album so fun in the first place.

Of course a lot of this is nitpicking on an extremely solid and exciting debut album. This is a debut album that has a very distinct musical identity and sounds like it could have been made by someone working within the scene for years.  With some beautiful artwork and really exciting songs I definitely recommend it.

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