The Future Is Not What It Used To Be

Jonny Dillon AKA Automatic Tasty lands on Central Processing Unit for the third time with an EP that is far from typical of the Sheffield label’s output. While there are nods to the label’s usual sci-fi electro sound, the majority of the tracks draw more influence from electrofunk and, more obviously, the deeper end of the 1980s synth-pop spectrum. For proof, check opener ‘The Future is Not What It Used To Be’, whose robotic vocoder vocals, chiming melodies and Chris Lowe style chord progressions gives the track an ‘overlooked 1988 Pet Shop Boys B-side’ kind of feel. Elsewhere, ‘Romance in the Old Country’ is atmospheric, warming and bittersweet, ‘Rising Sun’ is giddy and cheerful, and ‘Adventures in the World of Becoming’ sounds like a long-lost, late ’90s Plone track. – Juno