After weeks of driving in the summer heat of Salt Lake City, I find it crucial to have the right music bumping through my car’s speakers to distract me from the fear of overheating. This July, I expect to play the sounds from the electronic synth-pop artist Maps, who creates perfect summer tracks with his danceable beats and chill introspective lyrics on his latest album “Vicissitude.”
Vicissitude is defined by Merriam-Webster as “the quality or state of being changeable,” and summer is the perfect time to “find” oneself and make some changes before Fall Semester begins. Along with the excitement of sunshine and swimming pools, Maps’ fast electro beats and high hats encapsulates the idea that summer is a time to take a step back and look at what the future holds.
Appropriately, the track titled “This Summer” sings about realizing new truths and allowing yourself to make the necessary changes. Maps croons, “Appearances that littered me / A twisted imagery of a song / But nothing is so clear to me / When all I thought I knew was wrong.” While your summer epiphanies may hold more hope than Maps’, the song still leaves listeners with a promising feeling of change.
The album begins with “A.M.A.,” a synth-pop song with a driving beat that you can’t help but groove to. The next track, “Built To Last,” is reminiscent of old Depeche Mode and indicative of the 80s’ sound flowing throughout “Vicissitude.” It also holds powerful lyrics, saying, “You can’t blame the people / You can’t blame the money / You can’t blame the fathers /You can forgive yourself of what you’ve yet to know.”
Maps makes a great soundtrack for a long summer road trip. Each song becomes increasingly more complex as he layers drums and synthetic tones on top of one another. In addition, Maps’ timing for ending a song keeps the album from becoming a long stream of noise.
Fans of trance music will gravitate toward Maps’ constant driving beats and airy melodies, but even those who tend to shy away from any type of electronic music will enjoy a song or two off of “Vicissitude.” Perhaps the most listener friendly track is“Left Behind.” The tune blends traits of slow indie tracks (think Death Cab for Cutie) and modern synth-pop (reminiscent of Owl City’s “Fireflies”).
“Vicissitude” will join the ranks of Maps many successes. James Chapman, the brains behind Maps, released his first record in 2006 called “Start Something EP.” The EP got Chapman attention from Mute Records and together they produced “We Can Create,” Maps’ first full-length album and his debut into the music world. “We Can Create” garnered critical acclaim and a nomination for the Mercury Music Prize in 2007. Fast-forward six years, Maps is finding himself more comfortable in his skin as a musician, making his third album the strongest and most complete thus far. While with some musicians it is good to start at the beginning and work your way to the present, Maps is better received moving backwards, by dipping a toe in “Vicissitude” before moving on to discover his other works. The album is to be released July 9. Now that summer is in full swing, it might be the perfect time to check Maps out.