ADULT. Returns with an Anarcho Cyberpunk Dance Party

ADULT.
Perception is/as/of Deception
Dais Records

Links: Official Site | Dias Records

For 23 years, Nicola Kuperus and Adam Lee Miller have been pushing the limits of electronic music and creating art on the fringe by incorporating mystery and paranoia into their frigid cyber beats. It’s refreshing to see ADULT. continue this artistic vision on Perception is/as/of Deception.

Anxiety-driven dance music through anarcho cyberpunk philosophy, this album is a good replica of the times. Even after all of these years later, ADULT. has a progressive energy that builds from their mantra of the past. One thing we know from this album is that nothing is certain. Class becomes a void and the fog machine EBM churns like a narcotic.

“Total Total Damage” gyrates with hollowed-out mechanical beats, utilizing an Industrial foundation to force anxiety with Kuperus’s voice taunting us. The lines become blurred, and we are forced into an arena of letting go of what it feels to be human. “Close your eyes/close your eyes.” The only thing that resembles humanity at this point is the spirit of rebellion against a complacent society. “What do you want? What do you need?” Have we re-invented and then escaped from Plato’s cave theory? ADULT. have once again broken the shackles.

There are more classic ADULT.-like electro bangers like “Reconstruct The Construct” and “Have I Started At The End,” that churn in strobe light fantasies while pointing to Industrial pioneers like Nitzer Ebb and Front 242.

“Why Always Why” succumbs to the glitch, reminding us that these repurposed constructions are indeed damaged. And that is what makes Perception is/as/of Deception powerful, dynamic,and irresistible to join in the chant.

ADULT. has been creating the future for years. I fear, in this context, the future is finally catching up. Either way, like eyedrops in the eye, Kuperus and Miller continue to give us a wake-up call. This is evident in a song like “Controlled By” and the destruction within their own self isolation.

ADULT. – Total Total Damage (Official Video)