One thing that has allowed Primal Scream to last the past 20 odd years is keeping the people interested. Despite major disappointments in the form of Riot City Blues and Evil Heat, I always try and approach their albums with an open mind. That being said, part of me hopes that Bobby Gillespie and Co. latest efforts will take a cue from 2000’s fantastic XTRMNTR. But really it all depends on what drugs (or lack thereof) ingested whilst recording.

Alas, Beautiful Future isn’t XTRMNTR. But I can’t say that I’m disappointed with this effort. Within the first few seconds after pressing play I had to do an auditory double-take. Rather than being all up in my grill, the album has an upbeat feel to it (seriously, the opening track as bells and handclaps). There are also the occasional buzzy electronic tracks like ‘Suicide Bomb’ and Krautpop influenced ‘The Glory of Love’. Most of which are musically ear-pleasing. But if you dig a little beneath the candy coated exterior and actually listen to the lyrics, you’ll hear lines like ‘empty houses, burning cars, naked bodies hanging from the trees’. It seems that despite taking a different approach musically, Gillespie is still keeping his message on the real.

It’s tough to flat out recommend this album as PS has crossed over so many genres over the years and where one person may hate an album, they may absolutely love another. I think enough effort was put into Beautiful Future where if you’re already a Primal Scream fan, give it at least one spin to alleviate your curiosity. And if not, check out their back catalog first, then give it a shot.

P.S. Here’s parts 1 and 2 of a five part doc that XFM has produced showing the process behind Beautiful Future. I’ll update this post when the final 3 parts are released.

3.5/5

UPDATE: Here’s the links for parts 3, 4 and 5

 

 Primal Scream - Beautiful Future: Play Now