Unify Separate are back with their new album ‘Music Since Tomorrow’. The Stockholm synth band have made a quantum leap with their sophomore outing, and showcase a bigger, more direct sound that is reinforced by powerful electric guitar contributions by Suede’s Richard Oakes. The new album finds the duo full of confidence on the back of successful gigs in Germany with darkwave legends Diary of Dreams and the support slot to Suede when they came to Stockholm on their Coming Up anniversary tour. But, in truth, the path to this point has not been without its struggles…
The world has been completely and utterly turned upside down since Unify Separate released their debut album ‘First Contact’ in 2019. Rave reviews took the band to Norway, UK and Germany, and they were building real momentum. But then, everything changed.
Lockdown, an increasingly uncertain world and personal disintegration. Andrew went through a separation, questioning his direction in life, and Leo seemed to lose his mind spending thousands of hours immersed in music theory and madly seeking technical perfection, investing in and reinventing his studio, leaving nothing to chance.
What was intended as an uplifting electronic album created in a straightforward manner turned into a monster. Their film-soundtrack-inspired synth sound expanded unexpectedly to take in indie-pop and darker electronic influences. ‘Music Since Tomorrow’ became an album that takes in “pandemic pop”, environmental ills, social media burnout and the disconnects of life, with 11 songs that convey a mass of conflicting emotions.
The end result is an album filled with fantastic electronic indie pop, turning dark thoughts into defiant anthems, especially when Suede guitarist Richard Oakes elevates ‘The Void’ and ‘Waiting Game’, with his searingly beautiful guitar playing.
The album also includes the much-praised singles ‘Solitude & I’, ‘Dying on the Vine’ and ‘Embrace the Fear’. It’s a tour de force by a band that’s tailormade for bigger stages.