The soundscapes created by MCP consume you before you even realise. It’s the sonic equivalent of dropping acid at an ’80s video game theme park.
Progressive-electronica with massive Stranger Things energy is the purest way that I can describe the music of MCP. It’s a project that has truly stopped Sydney in its tracks. We don’t really know who they are, we don’t know why they’re here, and the closest we’ve come to making sense of it all is through the occasional, painfully niche review (this one included).
With just two singles to their name, the trio have claimed the upcoming face of Sydney electronica. An MCP song doesn’t just play, it commands everything around it. Pulsating synth unfurls a nocturnal dreamscape as detailed as your favourite video game. Every edge is traced out in glistening neon and you’ll find yourself falling further into their realm with every second that plays.
At this point in time, it seems that MCP (a.k.a. Master Control Project) are opting for secrecy. With a Spotify, Instagram, Bandcamp, and only a few quotes out there, all equally cryptic, the trio are really taking the phrase “let the music speak for itself” to another level.
The music doesn’t just speak for itself however, it towers over everything in sight. The trio’s latest single Dwam is where the Stranger Things essence really shines through. The repeated bass riff layered on top of flaky synth draws you straight into the group’s sonic universe. Ebbing and flowing in all the perfect moments, it’s a single destined to soundtrack a futuristic blockbuster.
Where Dwam sparkled with nostalgia, the group’s debut Vantablack burns with synth-laden tides. Throw in some eerie overlays of what appears to be an in-flight announcement and you’ve got yourself a six-minute masterpiece of digital ambience.
“We approach these songs and our musical influences more so through movies and video games of the mid-late ’80s and early ’90s rather than actual band influences,” the band quietly announced. “Movies such as ‘The Last Star Fighter’, ‘Flight of the Navigator’, Willow and John Carpenters ‘Big Trouble in Little China’, combined with distant memories of late nights eating cheese pizza at the local arcade, has become our canvas in which we have pulled from.”
Although this aesthetic is well known and fairly popularised, its roots in nostalgia make it an incredibly delicate nuance to work with. Not every artist can capture such intimate memories on the keys of a synth, but MCP prove themselves to be an outlier. With the Vantablack video slated for release on August 21st, it’s safe to say that we’re on the edge of our seats waiting to see what they reveal next.
Find more from the band here.
