Tomorrow’s World - Tomorrow’s World

What do you get if you mix one part Air with one-fifth New Young Pony Club? You get Tomorrow’s World and their self-titled debut album. Jean-Benoit Dunckel of Air and Lou Hayter, who plays keyboard in New Young Pony Club, together make dark, cinematic pop. It’s dreamy, but not necessarily happy.

The lazy ‘A Heart That Beats For Me’ opens proceedings, wallowing in luxury with sparse but well-placed vocals from Lou. ‘Think Of Me’ carries things on; it’s the simultaneous feelings of post-coital bliss and being loved from afar, in sonic form. The boy-girl vocal pairing is absolutely perfect.

The pulsating ‘Drive’ takes things darker; it’s a good choice for next single, feeling very much like the kind of song you’d put on during late-night drives. And then there’s the French ‘Pleurer et Chanter’. Even if you can’t understand what’s being sung (A Level French will only get you so far) the soundscape is easy to understand. It’s sad sweet romance.

So many of the songs stick to the sultry mix of synths and sighs, to the extent that sometimes they do blur into one another after a few listens. They usually have something to make them stand out; ‘You Taste Sweeter’ has a robotic feel whilst still being a little bit sexy; ‘Life On Earth’ has fantastic piano notes. But there’s still a limit to the variety on display here.

‘So Long My Love’ is a previous single, with a strong beat and uncomplicated rhythms. At nearly six minutes long, it’s the longest track on the album, and it does feel a bit too long. The scratchy electronics are a nice touch, and Lou’s vocals are again put to good use, but as a whole the song feels like it’s waiting to be remixed and turned into something else.

As a collaboration, ‘Tomorrow’s World’ is an interesting listen; better than that, it’s a good listen. But it never really goes anywhere, and feels almost too complete as a collection of cinematic love songs. The duo were only ever meant to make one song, and ended up making 11. It will be interesting to see whether we see any more of them after this.