Kissing Luck Goodbye

Description

ADULT. doesn't cooperate. For over 25 years, this dystopian Detroit synth-punk institution, founded by Nicola Kuperus and Adam Lee Miller, has embodied an unwavering frustration, mistrust, and apprehension. One might expect time to soften the edges, but ADULT. scoffs at the easy comforts of posterity. The duo's music has never sounded as visceral, urgent, and full of rage as on their latest album, Kissing Luck Goodbye. The album is relentlessly dynamic, both powerful and clear. Kuperus' masterful voice, brought forward in the mix, unleashes an arsenal of biting and incisive calls, chants, and reflections. Laughter serves as a leitmotif throughout the album, bearing witness to the menacing absurdity of modern times. "THEY WANT CHAOS," she sings in "R U 4 $ALE," a true declaration of intent: to respond to a world consumed by greed and disorder with assumed and masterfully orchestrated chaos. "In this hell we currently live in, we have two choices: fight or sink into depression," Miller explains. "Both are valid. But, you know, the choice was simple." ADULT. is known for its intense, cathartic stage performances and recently delved into its catalog of bass-driven tracks from the 2000s, reconnecting with the visionary era of Anxiety Always, partly out of necessity given the current climate of political and technological anxiety. The reaction was immediate and palpable: "We were in Paris, and the kids were throwing themselves into the crowd. I thought: this is great. This is exactly the energy I want to rediscover," says Kuperus. This revelation coincided with a series of setbacks: Kuperus' chronic vertigo attacks, the passing of their friend and collaborator Douglas McCarthy of Nitzer Ebb, to whom the album is dedicated, all exacerbated by the threat of the regime. "It feels like everything is falling apart. We're falling apart. We're broken." This feeling, however, was fleeting, and the mood before the release of Kissing Luck Goodbye was one of revolt. Instead of retreating, they focused on the creative process, rethought their setup, including their first new microphones in 20 years. Pause the album at any point, and you'll likely hear a dozen things happening simultaneously in a strange, dizzying, and dissonant harmony.