Floating grimly in the space between dark ambient and death industrial, Greece's Conjecture utilizes dark tones and atmospheres to tackle the subject of "anticipatory nostalgia" on his latest, Nostalgia Futura. Aurally exploring the psychology behind the interesting phenomenon of feeling nostalgic for a future event(s), Conjecture combines lower, grounding, oscillating synths with wistful and almost cinematic highs to build the tension between earthy reality and high-flying, nostalgic emotions. Nostalgia Futura, like the human mind in which this battle of opposites rages, takes both factions into account, weighs them equally, adds in the spaces between, and gives the listener enough sonic information to take this psychological journey in many directions, with a number of those paths pointed inward for self-analysis. 

 

Thick, low, and dripping with industrial goodness, Nostalgia Futura utilizes its tones, tempos, and layers very effectively to bring about both stark, industrial coldness as well as evocative, ambient mechanics, the product of which puts the listener in an intriguingly uncomfortable place. On one hand, there is safety, and the other, heavy danger. This helps Conjecture to bring about those comfortable, nostalgic feelings while juxtaposing them with the uneasy, uncertainty of the future. Thick synthesizers form the basis for much of Nostalgia Futura, and these are used in a variety of ways, as one would gather from the descriptions just above. Outside of the clear distinctions between the safe and unknown, Conjecture uses textures and tempos to further create a divide for the listener, and allows secondary oscillations and sweeping drones to fill in the gaps. Pushing forth with heavy pulses, the gravity and reality of the current world charges forth with machinelike precision. However, floating and sweeping perpendicularly to this, higher, ambient layers bring about a feeling of wistful remembrance, a comforting nostalgia trapped among terrifying and uncertain notes. This is just one such juxtaposition and utilization of tone, texture, and tempo, but Conjecture manages to create this interesting tension throughout Nostalgia Futura, which not only reinforces his thesis, but makes for a very engaging listen that unravels more of itself (and of the listener themselves) upon each successive spin.

 

Built upon an interesting premise and supported with lush and evocative synthesis, Conjecture's Nostalgia Futura is an engaging look at a common psychological phenomenon but expressed through varied instrumental juxtapositions. The layers and interplay contained are sure to root themselves into the listener, causing them to ponder on the basis of the album as well. In addition, if one is experiencing anticipatory nostalgia, what other phenomena are they experiencing and how are these unknown processes affecting their view of the world?