PopHorror Let's Get Scared
I have to say that 2018 was a big year for music. There were so many releases from so many different genres this year – usually within weeks of each other – that, at times, it was difficult to keep track of all the new albums and EPs dropping. Bands that hadn’t had releases in years put out new work, amazing crossovers happened, and, within all the commotion, upcoming artists debuted amazing new works of their own. Admittedly, it was a challenge to keep everything in order.
That’s why when I heard that Thomas Dekker (John Connor from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Zach from Heroes) had released his third electronica album titled Into the Night, I was curious enough to take a listen. After all, many actors have made the crossover into music before, and vice versa, with varying degrees of success. And I’m happy to say that, after taking a spin all the way through this album multiple times, this project is not only an excellent electronic album, but probably one of the most pleasantly surprising listens I’ve had in 2018.
From I was able to discover through research, Dekker is no stranger to music and production, having written some of his earliest songs at the age of ten. After landing a legit record deal when he was fifteen, but feeling that the contract was too restrictive of his artistic vision, he began working on his own music as his acting career simultaneously began to take off.
Now on this third release, Dekker has clearly studied the genre and has come out with a clear vision of electronic synth-wave. Dekker utilizes a number of different sonic textures and colors all throughout the album. The opening track of Into The Night, “Lightstorm,” sounds like it would fit right at home in the soundtrack for Tron; the opening creates a hissing buildup of static before dropping into a full-on landscape of dark, luscious soundwaves. The next track, “Reaper,” combines tight, high-end percussive sounds with a low, foreboding synth that permeates throughout as his lyrics speak of coming face to face with death.
If what I’m describing is simultaneously specific and vague, perhaps it would be helpful to add that Dekker clearly has many musical influences and proudly wears all of them on his sleeve. The works of John Carpenter, Depeche Mode, New Order, and even Goblin (the mad geniuses behind the Suspiria soundtrack) are all listed as muses for Dekker, and it shows in his music. But never do his tracks fall into pure plagiarism, as many electronic tracks from lesser artists are want to do. Dekker finds a way to work all of those influences in bite-sized morsels that all make themselves known throughout the album, especially in the creepy, Goblin-esque sound effects on the mysterious “Dance of the Sorcerer.”
Overall, I was very pleasantly and genuinely surprised by the quality of this album. The amount of different things happening throughout all of these tracks would be potentially overbearing if in the hands of a less-experienced producer, or one with less overall vision, but here Dekker is able to combine them all into a palatable experience. I had never heard any of Dekker’s previous musical offerings, and electronica is a genre I often find recycling the same common tropes over and over again. But on Into the Night, Dekker has released a tight, endearing little electronica LP. With so many subjects in this album’s lyrics of mystery and the macabre, Into the Night is an album teeming with life. I highly recommend it.
