Robots With Rayguns’ new album

Today sees the release of LA ElectroPop producer Robots With Rayguns’ second album. Following 2010’s Electro Isn’t Dead, this new record sees Lucas Patrick Smith continuing down his path of retro styled SynthPop with modern production.

RWR is a collection of ten dancefloor oriented synthesizer workouts. Robots With Rayguns’ music has always been painted with a brush of retro 80’s synth, but sounds too clean and digital to really sit amongst the vintage haze of SynthWave and Outrun, and RWR perfectly displays this unique sound. Take Reflex, the album’s first track proper, it’s a grinding Nu-Disco-esque groove with lush Dreamwave synths and a little chainsaw Electro in there, but the biting production give it a Germanic, almost EBM edge, making it slightly more abrasive, more aggressive than it’s counterparts. Your Love, featuring the vocals of Blu-J is an example of Robots With Rayguns at his best, when working with a simple vocal hook, RWR seems to shine that little bit brighter, and be able to bring some of that ‘80’s warmth into his tracks. This culminates in his collaboration with Patrick Baker, Runaway, the album’s highlight. On Runaway Patrick’s vocals are bring a real human feel, allowing Robots With Rayguns to deliver a rich synthetic backing track (including his beloved pitched up vocals) which combines to produce a catchy , euphoric, ElectroPop monster. Elsewhere the album slips between blissful, nostalgic, Dreamwave-esque tracks and full-on Electro floorfillers. Occasionally RWR slips into Futurecop! lite, but when Robots With Rayguns finds his own voice, the album really flies.

♫ Robots With Rayguns (Feat. Patrick Baker) – Runaway