What would the trendsetters of today do without the sounds of the past to provide them with the inspiration to do what they do? Perhaps that is a question for the philosophers amongst us but it is also one that seems particularly relevant in the context of “Parallels” by HøRD.
The sounds found on this album are those of the early days of synthesiser success. The vocals are distant and disembodied. The rhythms are those of the street than those of the dancefloor. The tone therefore is bleak and perhaps even oppressive with today and the past becoming one under a black cloud of sequenced precision as if to remind us that there were good old days.
This is, however, far from unusual in the land of synthwave, and French synthwave producer Sebastien Carl – for it is he who is HøRD - has turned his musical vision into a reality that suggests that the Bluetooth generation are as far from the truth as their medieval ancestors. No questions, no answers just the rigidity of a computer-controlled order to put everything in context.
It may seem pretentious to regard “Parallels” as an album not only of our times but also as a true reflection on our times yet, in the soulless and bleak scenario that HøRD has created, his soundtrack is appropriate to the perennial darkness that now approaches us all.