As a pleasant surprise in late 2019, 2020’s Calendar Album was announced to be released alongside a physical calendar once more. My finances were very low at the time, and with only a couple of new images in the actual calendar, I opted for the music-only version. I’m not sure if this is a sign of getting FSOL fatigue from the staggering amount of releases over the previous five years or what, but even now I consider it a surprising decision to make. So no month-by-month description of the images this time, although thumbnails can be seen on FSOLDigital.
Musically, the album has received a slightly more mixed response than normal. In a 2021 FSOLBoard thread, it was highlighted by some as an example of an underwhelming recent release, and at least a couple of the tracks came under fire for being disappointing on Facebook. In some ways, it’s easy to see why. From 2016 onwards, the FSOL palate has begun to head in a slightly more minimal direction (I’ve certainly used that word a lot on this blog in recent weeks!), with less in the way of the dense, lush sound of the band’s ’90s work, and more of a stark, cold IDM sound. The 2020 Calendar Album is pretty much the extreme in this direction, with a very rhythm-forward sound and surprisingly little in the way of the usual melodic “euphoric sadness” that one would expect from FSOL. It’s quite easily the coldest sounding record in the band’s history, with little in the way of welcoming melodies, or thick textural ambience. Interestingly, despite its unconventional approach, it consists almost entirely of FSOL tracks, with only one piece from Blackhill Transmitter and one from Humanoid representing the wider FSOLDigital family.
Myself, I find the album quite a difficult listen, but satisfying when I’m in the mood. Whether intentional or not, its cool, somewhat distant mood feels incredibly apt for 2020, a year in which Covid-19 made the world a very, very different place. Certainly a couple of the track titles (‘Reassurance’ and ‘The New Normal’) represent the pandemic. A dark album for dark times.
Release date: 22nd October 2020 (calendar), 25th January-31st December 2020 (music).
Tracklist
Digital download
1. The Future Sound of London – Mind Function Wave
2. The Future Sound of London – Oceans of Plastic
3. The Future Sound of London – Enforced
4. The Future Sound of London – Reassurance
5. The Future Sound of London – The New Normal
6. The Future Sound of London – Dusty DX
7. The Future Sound of London – Utterance
8. The Future Sound of London – Alertions
9. Blackhill Transmitter – Obtainable
10. The Future Sound of London – Talus
11. Humanoid – Ikzum
12. The Future Sound of London – Belly (2020)
Fractional Difference 