With the abundance of talented bands emerging from the UK New Wave scene during the ’80s, perhaps the most attention-grabbing was A Flock of Seagulls. The band came together in 1979, and the story goes that band leader Mike Score (a hairdresser at the time) bought a second-hand Korg MS-10 synthesizer and invited Frank Maudsley and Ali Score to make some music.
A humble beginning, A Flock of Seagulls united a New Romantic visual appeal with a sound that blended Rock guitars and synthesized melodies for a pioneering form of Synth-Rock or what might be called Electronic Rock in modern times. Quite unique, songs like 1982’s “Space Age Love Song” and “Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)” were the perfect marriage of styles. However, it would be the mega success of “I Ran (So Far Away)” that would ring through the halls of time as a defining A Flock of Seagulls anthem.
Each of the songs mentioned off their top-selling 1982 self-titled debut album, the band continued on with three more exceptional albums through the end of the ‘80s with 1983’s Listen, 1984’s The Story of a Young Heart, and 1986’s Dream Come True. Unfortunately dissolving in late 1986, Mike Score reassembled the band in the mid-90s and put out the under-appreciated The Light at the End of the World in 1995, but since then, there has not been one full-length A Flock of Seagulls studio album.
This is not to say that Mike Score has not found new and interesting ways to keep A Flock of Seagulls in flight. In fact, he has toured consistently over the last two decades, under the A Flock of Seagulls banner or as a solo artist. With this in mind, in 2018, the original lineup reunited to release Ascension, a collection of re-recorded orchestral versions of classics, plus one brand new piece.
An exciting gift for long-time fans, a year later, in 2019, they released Inflight, which was a collection of extended versions of some of their choice songs. Also enjoyable, they followed up in 2021 with another orchestral album called String Theory, but the question remained – would there ever be a brand A Flock of Seagulls studio album? Three years later, we have our answer… because A Flock of Seagulls released their all-new studio album on December 13, 2024, via August Day.
Calling the album Some Dreams, it marks their first studio album of all new material in nearly thirty years! A very long time ago, a burning curiosity of what the album may sound like drove some fans wild, but in August, the album’s lead single, “Some Dreams,” arrived. A very retro-sounding song with a heavy synth and a catchy beat; it was not until late November another track popped up, and it was called “Him.” This also has an extremely throwback vibe to it, with keys and guitars that blend together perfectly, like much of the band’s older material.
So, are these two songs indicative of what the remainder of what Some Dreams offers? Yes and no… because the album is really quite all over the map. What this means is the creativity of Mike Score and company is not limited to dishing out just nostalgic sounds.
Instead, Some Dreams offers you a good portion of stunning authentic sound Synth-Rock with all the warm textures, but also some much more modern like “We Want It Back Again” and “Got To Get To You.” These two songs mentioned, you can also not overlook the lovely sentiment of “Castles in the Sky,” the haunting melodies of “Lovers and Strangers,” and the darkly undertoned “You’re A Fool.
Altogether, each of the ten songs on Some Dreams has its own unique personality. The pace is even, the tones colorful, and the mood is absolutely right on. There are elements of Pop, Synthwave, and Progressive Rock all bunched into one collection that will leave A Flock of Seagulls fans very pleased. Simply put, right up there with The Cure’s Songs of a Lost World, A Flock of Seagull’s Some Dreams is one of the most exciting long overdue returns from an ’80s-era band in all of 2024. A highly recommended album not to be overlooked, Cryptic Rock gives Some Dreams 5 out of 5 stars.
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