Description
Synthetic is probably the most underrated Flumergex album. That’s totally our fault: as the band’s record label, we need to do more to create awareness for this truly stellar group of songs.
So let us be clear: There is some really awesome music on Synthetic. Also, the sound of this album is a radical departure from the previous Flumergex sound, and may be in some ways different from anything you’ve heard before.
What changed? In a word, synthesizers. This album was created after Jesse got a new drum machine and a couple of not-quite-Eurorack sort of synth modules with the aim of creating his own DAWless setup.
Recalls Smith, “I just programmed a couple of really basic loops and sequences into these modules, and synced them to each other with a CV clock signal; and then just set them all playing, and tweaked the settings for half an hour or so at a time, you know: playing with the synth’s filter cutoff and the resonance; jamming out on the drum machine; that sort of thing. I had them all running into a mixer, and recorded all the basic tracks in one pass as a single stereo signal: which had the limitation that I couldn’t remix it later, but it had the advantage of being done, which is always a huge plus in my projects. Then I took these half-hour long jams and edited them down to just the best snippets, and spliced those snippets together to create the structure of the songs. After that I overdubbed the guitars and whatnot, including some vocals on a couple of tracks.” And that’s the story of how Synthetic was produced.
I’ve got some adulting to do now, yo, so I’m going to sign off for a bit. I’ll return soon to share with you the complete track listing for this album.
But you don’t have to wait for me: you can buy the album Synthetic by Flumergex using this link right here; or you can search it up on your favorite streaming service: as long as you promise not to let Spotify play you “Scratchy Excellence” first, because if you’re going to listen to only one song from this album, it should be the title track “Synthetic,” or maybe the wild instrumental “In Search of Synthetics,” or even the booming techno dance number “Proof of Concept,” start with one of those, and then check out “Retinal Scans,” all before you let any silly algorithm tell you what you should listen to.
Comparables
If you enjoy the electronica and synthesizer-heavy alternative rock music of bands like The Chemical Brothers and Juno Reactor, as well as Morcheeba and Gorillaz, with perhaps a dash of Gnarls Barkley and just a pinch of Beck’s attitude and maybe a distant glimmer of Nine Inch Nails in the mirror across the room: then you’ve really got to check out Synthetic by Flumergex, because this music was made for you. I mean, that is, it was made to suit your taste in music. I can’t really in all honesty claim that it was made for you personally, since I don’t know who you are; but anyway, that’s enough of this Monty Python humor, for now; the point is, check it out, listen to the album sequentially in order all the way through, or start with the title track, “Synthetic,” and see if you dig these innovative, energetic, and deeply groovy sounds by Flumergex.
Concept Album?
You might think of Synthetic as a concept album that tells a story as you listen to it.
In this techno thriller adventure story, our heroes begin by proving their capabilities in the film’s fast-paced opening sequence. It then becomes necessary for our main protagonist to prioritize and deal with problems of some complexity; and this drives the plot forward. Due to these imaginary monsters, which may or may not turn out to be real after all, our lead character begins to crave the aid of some kind of sci-fi tech tools involving an unspecified synthesis of some sort. These “synthetics” function as the Maguffin objective for the remainder of the film. Accordingly, the protagonist leads a team on a quest in search of synthetics. In order to fulfill their quest, the secret agent spies must get past the retinal scanner in order to gain access to a top secret facility. But then their project hits a snag, and the team leader appeals for understanding from the other team members. After an arduous struggle, the project reaches its goal, and Synthetics are achieved… but it’s not everything they had expected. Someone has misled them! Even so the plucky group of friends and colleagues and maybe professional assassins makes the best of the situation, and the story concludes with a scratchy kind of excellence: essentially a happy ending.
Track Listing
All right, that’s the broad-strokes theme, and it’s a lovely little narrative, even if it contradicts some of the actual song details described below. Following is the track listing.
Proof of Concept
The driving synth bass line and thumping yet syncopated techno beat of the opening instrumental, “Proof of Concept,” is perhaps some of the most commercial-sounding music Flumergex has ever created. That’s not a bad thing: the band wants to have a broad appeal to audiences everywhere. Of course, it wouldn’t be Flumergex if this was a straight-ahead techno tune with the same sound all the way through; in this case there’s also a chill floaty interlude where we bring it down for a bit; and then there’s a badass build section, complete with some wild and whooshing laser beams and sound design elements, before we bring it back to the main theme for a rousing chorus and then out.
In 2025, this song was featured prominently in the opening credits of the comic short film Curb Thy Vanity, directed by Anna Gillock and produced by Basementia Films.
Imaginary Monsters
The bass synth on this one sounds so fat! The tune “Imaginary Monsters” has a syncopated sort of backbeat groove with various sound design elements and instruments coming in and out and winding around each other, while overdubbed harmony vocals sing together in falsetto and deep baritone voices at the same time in a style perhaps vaguely reminiscent of some of your favorite 70s funk and, yes, disco.
This song is about imaginary monsters. The monsters are imaginary because they’re not real. It’s a metaphor for the things we worry about in life that aren’t worth worrying about. However, the song includes the slight caveat that if you’re wrong and the monsters are real after all, then they could come back to bite you. But that’s precisely why we prefer our monsters to be imaginary!
Craving Synthetics
When you hear the intro section of this recording, you wonder why Flumergex does not yet have worldwide household name brand recognition: because this music is truly awesome. Then Jesse starts singing and you’re like, What the heck is he on about? “Craving synthetics”? Is this, like, some kind of a science-fiction story about urban addicts? No, as Smith has previously noted somewhere (probably over on the Flumergex band website), this is (or began as) a song about wanting to get some synthesizer modules to fatten up the band’s sound and produce more and more awesome shimmering swooping electronica and weird and crazy gritty alternative rock music: such as this very song. (So maybe it is a science-fiction story about technology addicts after all?) Admittedly, it might be a bit self-referential; but this notion of “synthetics” is a concept that recurs throughout the album: making this almost a sort of concept album, if you’ll pardon the pretension.
In Search of Synthetics
This instrumental song continues the theme of the adventure quest in search of synthesizers to make awesome and innovative new music. The melody statement is almost heart-wrenching in the raw aching strains of B minor, as an electric guitar and, yes, a synthesizer mangle the theme and dance around each other, while an intense backing ensemble sound fills the sonic space in an attention-grabbing groove. Then we break it down, open it up, turn it inside out, and utterly destroy it with dirt and filth as the drum synth launches into stratospheric sound design elements; and then finally return for a rousing chorus at the end.
Retinal Scans
Sequenced computer-sounding synth sounds in the intro morph into waves of lush grooves as a male vocalist sings about getting past an iris scanning laser device because that’s the only way to get in and ultimately they’ve got to win. Smith’s lyrics also drop references to DNA and viruses and facial recognition in a sort of technology-driven adventure themed song. It seems to have a groovy laid-back tempo, on one level; but there’s so much going on in the background that it feels energetic and fast-paced at the same time: and that floaty mind-warping tension makes this a real standout track. “Retinal Scans” also features some low-key swooshing sound design elements later in the recording. We believe this song could be a really good fit for a show about a cybersecurity analyst, a team of spies, or any sort of techno-thriller heist film.
A Little Understanding
The pounding swooping drumbeat provides a solid basis for the stomp-groove of “A Little Understanding,” with its heartfelt appeal to do unto others as you would have done unto you. Then after a couple of verses and choruses, that’s when the song really gets going, with an instrumental break that sounds just absolutely huge as a massive synthesizer dominates the sonic space and the drums get all echoey and pounding, before we bring it down to a super-chill but still groovy ending. If you like music that has the potential to surprise and astonish you, then this is a song you should hear.
This song was featured in the closing credits of the Basementia Films comic short film production, “Curb Thy Vanity.”
Synthetic
The title song of Synthetic is an eight and a half minute musical manifesto, a declaration of existence, a statement of being, and a controversial critique of our growing dependence on technology-driven social interactions in modern society, where computers talk like people and people talk like computers, and it’s not always clear who is real, and still we’re all expected to conform to these increasingly fake norms all the time… Ahem.
But dang, friends, this song has got some seriously funky grooves going on here, with the syncopation and the many layers of sound that interact and dance with each other and jump around. “Synthetic” (the song) may the most recognizably Flumergex-sounding track on this album. Synthetic (the album) is generally a radical departure from the band’s signature sound in the past: but what most obviously connects this particular song to the Flumergex of the past is, the entire second half of this piece is an instrumental jam, and by that I mean, all the instruments are jamming at the same time: the keys, the synth, the electric guitar, and those wild, wild, wild and crazy drums furiously pounding away as the anthemic echoes of the lead instruments reverberate into the stratosphere.
Scratchy Excellence
This song is intended to be humorous, which is why the vocals are kind of buried in the mix: it’s just a silly bit of fun; although the drumbeat sounds pretty kickin’ in places, which must be (we assume) why Spotify apparently thinks it’s the only song on this album that you might want to listen to. From our perspective we hope that you will totally enjoy this song as well as also all the other songs on Synthetic.
That’s a Wrap
That’s the Synthetic track list, friends, go ahead and download the album today! Put it on repeat for a while as you’re first getting to know it because there’s a lot here to notice, you’ll want to give it a couple listens to take it all in.
About Flumergex
Created more than twenty years ago as a side project of a side project, Flumergex produces indie alternative rock and electronica with a variety of groovy sonic and stylistic influences.
All the songs on Synthetic were written, performed, and produced by Jesse S. Smith.
