Sounds of the Future Chronicled In New Book

'The term [electronic music] is reserved for music that sounds overtly synthetic' writes author and music journalist Simon Reynolds in his introduction to Futuromania: Electronic Dreams, Desiring Machines and Tomorrow’s Music Today. 'It has the clean, cold sheen that we customarily associate with the futuristic or the extraterrestrial. Although the synth can sound dirty and gnarly, more often than not the sounds it generates tend to evoke either a heavenly perfection that transcends the human plane, or forbidding alien zones of unknowable otherness.'

It becomes clear from that very first page that Reynolds' fascination with all things synth has everything to do with its intangibility, as much as it does the human ingenuity and drive behind it. After all, the invention of such music didn't begin with Kraftwerk; it was there in the manifestos of equally pioneering movements Futurism and Dada-ism. It was present right at the dawn of mid-1950s rock ‘n’ roll phenomena and as Reynolds too points out in his book, 'the development of synthesisers and the launch of the space race (the first satellites, the missions to the Moon) occurred during the same post-WW2 period'. When it comes to documenting the relationship between computer and music, man and machine, Reynolds' Futuromania certainly doesn't fall short of knowledge, nor does it read like a Cambridge student's Literature Review: it's a gripping tell-tale story not only of the power of synth, but also those behind it, from Ryuichi Sakamoto to Daft Punk, and even Donna Summer gets a chapter.

'Obviously, the title Futuromania is a twist on Retromania', Reynolds tells me. 'And in many ways, it’s like a younger sister to the 2011 book' (which Reynold's also authored). 'It’s a themed collection of writings about pop music that sounds futuristic or has science fiction themes in its lyrics and visuals. Whether it’s Donna Summer’s I Feel Love or the Auto-Tune rap of 2010s artists like Future and Migos, I’m celebrating sounds that in their original moment felt like "tomorrow’s music today”. An audio glimpse of the future –  sonically but also conjuring a sense of what life will feel like in decades to come.'

In a nutshell, the book shapes over two dozen essays and interviews into a chronological narrative of machine music from the 1970s to now, reflecting on human individuals abusing technology as much as the era-defining advances in electronic hardware and digital software along the way. Weaving a tapestry of the scenes and subcultures that have proliferated within that space where 'man meets machine', Futuromania acts as a listening guide for the future and for those looking to acquaint themselves with the past, at least where musical references are concerned.

The book also treads waters with motifs associated with science fiction, through its title as well as content. 'Just as with science fiction', Reynolds adds, 'often fantasies about the future tell us more about the present in which they’re formed than they give us a preview of what the actual chronological future will be like. “The future” is an expression of contemporary anxieties and desires. “Futuromania” could almost be a psychiatric term for a state of chronic excitement and impatience, a diagnosis for someone who’s obsessively chasing the next cutting edge in music or pop culture, which has been for much of my listening and writing life'.

Ever since the 'Space Age' movement that pervaded 1960s pop culture, it would be a white lie to say society has completely let go of futuristic ideals. Sure, the 'aesthetic' of our imagined future has drastically changed but that's only because we're living it. Rooted in the ever-hopeful idea of 'future' translating to 'better', Futuromania, above all, questions our increasing fascination with a life yet to live. '"Why are some of us so intensely invested in this idea?"' Reynolds asks. Want to know the answer? You'll have to read the book for that.

Futuromania: Electronic Dreams, Desiring Machines and Tomorrow’s Music Today will be published by White Rabbit on 11 April 2024 in hardback, audio and ebook.