Can – Future Days – Album Review
Written by Staff on February 10, 2024
Can – Future Days (1973) – Album Review by Joshua Reedy.
My copy: 2014 remastered reissue by Spoon Records.
Damo Suzuki’s fourth and final release with Can, Future Days sees the kraut-rock poster-children move into a new realm of contemplative ambient tones; their lengthy jamming now removed from corrosive sound experiments so as to focus on sprawling rhythmic mesmerism instead. The ambition of prior records is missed, but Future Days makes up for this by standing as their coolest, most entrancing record yet.
Just four songs long, the title track sets out in stormy weather, perhaps metaphorically riding away from the choppy waves of hellish soundscapes that often appeared on earlier tracks. Here on “Future Days,” the bubbling, suspended cauldron of fearful tones are quickly undercut by reassuring bass drones that help develop a multi-faceted percussive groove that mellows the vibe entirely. Suzuki is the most restrained he’s ever been here, cresting over the cruising instrumentals to call out a melody or two. “Spray” sprinkles in mystery with odd synth spasms although the atmosphere remains warm in spite of the added sense of urgency. The key element is a sort of improvisational feeling that is communicated in the length of each song – and while their densely-populated sessions feel spur-of-the-moment, they also feel decidedly tight and particular, as if each addition fits perfectly into designated space in the mix.
“Moonshake” is the single, slinking tastefully in the shadow of funk with Suzuki’s vocals still remaining sedated. Then comes the 20-minute “Bel-Air” which rises with a regal, oceanic ambiance and slowly bobs across several melodic movements. There are mystical swells and sweeps before the pace livens and is birthed into new passages of sound – the whole overarching idea building with intention like a great aural spiderweb. In the back-half of this mammoth track, they do invite some unease and chaos, but it is negated in favor of calm drones, the music fading away and restarting calmly until a final groove settles in.
To some, Future Days may feel like a compromise; in reality it is a maturation that retains an integral focus on percussion and intelligent use of rhythm. It is true that their more ambitious air eludes them here, but Can exist to deconstruct expectations first and foremost, and Future Days goes on to deconstruct our expectations of the band’s sound as we’ve come to know it: diving into a new aura of sophistication that is not to be denounced.
Continue reading
RadioRadioX