JOHN MAUS - "Later Than You Think" Album Review
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Musician and philosopher John Maus is widely recognised for his fierce belief in the emotional weight of sound and his paradoxical juxtapositions of the sacred and the profane. His oblique way of extrapolating academic rigour from lo-fi synthwave has made him known as the ultimate artist of the future past. After two decades of music, he released his best album to date: Later Than You Think. Music is not purely a medium to awaken the senses or project emotions, but it becomes a complex instrument of social and spiritual analysis. You could say that this album is as inward as it is outward. It takes us on what seems a perfectly paved walkaway (aesthetically speaking), but John Maus is not a simple master of the "form". He is someone who likes to question the questions and the unquestionable. His eccentric interpretations of the "baroque" and the "austere" go beyond the aesthetic, leaving us with bigger existential queries: what is truth? what is meaning? what is absence? The answers/non-answers linger in the liminal space of "Later Thank You Think". An invisible and intangible space between levity and a sacred call for finality, reminding the listeners that transformation is never linear and "meaning" is still important. This album exists on its own terms. Not only it offers a straightforward vision of the state of the world right now after many decades of post-war capitalist hegemony (John Maus is also known to think of post-war popular music as one big event), but it speaks of alienation, molecularization, smart machines, building/destroying as an almost inevitable act. The first song of the album "Because We Built It" encases this concept to the fullest. Both the lyrics and the looping synths project an impending sense of urgency for renewal and transmutation. It's a spell turning ashes into everlasting energy. "We" as humans have the power to build and destroy, which is in both science and religion, the singular most fascinating thing. There is an aspect of raw morbidity to this, that I believe this track fully covers/uncovers. "Disappears" and "Reconstruct Your Life" continue this momentum by approaching the themes of absence and possibility. There is anthemic resonance to both these tracks. Perhaps it's the baritone vocals sounding like a sacred medieval hymn in conjunction with the macabre yet upbeat synths. Yeah...How do you sound both macabre and upbeat at once? You can ask John Maus. "Shout" is for me one of the strongest tracks of the album. Given that the synth work distantly reminds me of "It's My Life" by Talk Talk, I am not surprised. John Maus, if you are reading this, I think your post-war pop music theory is most definitely correct! "Came & Got" is another song worth mentioning. Probably the catchiest in the album, if that can even be a worthy parameter (in pop music I guess it is). The synths are again what really elevate it. The Woodkid-like occasional cinematic segments with the overlapping solemn chorus are complementary and offer a contrasting and welcome texture. This does not sound like the description of a catchy song by the way, I am aware. The fact that I am writing this confirms I am indeed reviewing a John Maus piece! This is the thing about John Maus, it shouldn't make sense but somehow it does. His music always comes together in unexpected ways, although that is to be expected at this point. His strange combinations of sounds and moods - mashing 1980s goth-pop with baroque glitchy keyboards, horror soundtracks, and baritone solemn vocals, are what make his music sound sacred and universal. In a way, listening to John Maus is like going to Church and listening to the Church choir, while believing in something "ultimate". Songs like "Let The Time Fly" and "Adorabo" are testament to that. This album can sound macabre, upbeat, medieval, futuristic, ethereal, pragmatic, meticulous, audacious, sacred and irreverent all in one. This is Maus' eclecticism, esotericism, and vision. The question to be asked is: will this be his forever formula?
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Thanks for reviewing this has been grosely overlooked so far , amazing album