Timecop1983 – Faded Touch

It goes without saying that Timecop1983 is one of the leading lights in the ever evolving synthwave movement.

Written by: gdmonline

ARTIST: Timecop1983
ALBUM: Faded Touch
LABEL: Self Released
YEAR: 2021

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
1
LINEUP: Jordy Leenaerts (aka Timecop1983) – all instruments, production * Josh Dally – vocals

TRACK LISTING: 01 Holding On To The Memories * 02 Falling * 03 Emotions * 04 Feel The Same * 05 Moments In Time * 06 One Night * 07 New Beginnings * 08 Forever * 09 Chemical * 10 Alone * 11 Did You Move On?

RATING:
1q1q
WEBLINKS: Site Link

Background

It goes without saying that Timecop1983 is one of the leading lights in the ever evolving synthwave movement. The name is derived from the 80’s movie ‘Futurecop’ featuring Jean Claude Van Damme, plus the birth year of Mr Timecop1983 himself: Dutchman Jordy Leenaerts, a one man band with a penchant for extreme melody.

His latest album ‘Faded Touch’ is self released, with his prior four full length albums appearing on labels such as Playmaker, Urban Road and Time Slave. Jordy has teamed up with Brighton UK based singer Josh Dally for what is a lush musical backdrop that will appeal to both synth fanatics and melodic rockers alike.

The Songs

The lead-in track ‘Holding On To The Memories’ is a somber instrumental with a slower than usual tempo. Not quite what I was expecting for the first track. ‘Falling’ is the first of the vocal tracks featuring Josh Dally, there’s a proper video for it too (see below), but when the third track ‘Emotions’ arrives, the synth oscillators are opened up full bore in true 1980’s fashion.

The melancholy and nostalgia overflows on ‘Feel The Same’ but by chorus time we head into commercial territory with Dally’s vocal taking on a Bryan Adams like quality. ‘Moments In Time’ with its chugging arpeggios comes on like a cinematic experience but its ‘One Night’ where Timecop1983 lands on the AOR bullseye probably without realising it. A truly excellent track. ‘New Beginnings’ is the next instrumental which undulates with drum machines holding the beat while synth layers and leads combine to do the rest.

‘Forever’ (another instrumental) slows things to an absolute crawl which didn’t appeal greatly to me unfortunately. ‘Chemical’ a vocal and guitar based track picks up the pace somewhat, and it drives much harder similar to genre faves LeBrock but then again, not quite. ‘Alone’ with its big booming drum sound is another metronome-challenged instrumental while the closing ‘Did You Move On?’ is a mostly vocal ballad with just synths for accompaniment and no drums or percussion.

In Summary

At 45 minutes, TimeCop1983 swims in a sea of synth laden currents. Perhaps not quite as energetic as FM-84 at their most vibrant, but slightly ahead of The Midnight though perhaps level pegging when it comes to ambience and atmospherics.

If there is one thing that doesn’t quite float my boat it’s those tracks with slow tempo drum tracks. Yes, I know it’s synthwave, but it’s been proven by other artists that lifting the tempo can and does work. Maybe Jordy can keep that in mind for the next album. For those that are interested, check out the link below.

Video

Falling

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