Album review: Aksak Maboul - Ex-Futur (2014)

[Guybrush]

Aksak Maboul & The Honeymoon Killers - Ex-Futur (2014)



This is a review of the avantgarde synth-pop album by Aksak Maboul & The Honeymoon Killers. It was started on in the early 80s and was released in 2014.


Background

I didn't really know The Honeymoon Killers before this, so my own gateway into this was Aksak Maboul. If you have an interest in RIO bands (Rock In Opposition) like Samla Mammas Manna, Henry Cow and Univers Zero, you may also be familiar with Aksak Maboul who released a couple of fun albums in the latter half of the 70s. A couple of gems from that period, to me, is their cover of Milano per caso from their debut and the wonderful Modern Lesson (featuring Fred Frith) which may have started as a Bo Diddley cover.

Their sound was very diverse, but one may have noticed a certain blend of acoustic chamber music instruments and early electronic music. This blend is something they've distilled finer and finer in later years, as evident on their latest release Figures from 2020. But this review isn't about Figures, but rather about the proto-version of what the band is today which was a collab and a then failed attempt at an album in the early 80s.


From RIO to pop

In the early 1980s, Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul would start a collab with Veronique Vincent, the singer of the Honeymoon Killers. It seems they did a bit of work in the studio, but it didn't come to fruition until a little over 30 years later in 2014. Why the long delay? I don't really know. My guess would be that they had some material, but not quite enough good material for an entire album, which is probably what they aimed for. But the good material they did have must've been good enough for them to take another look at it in later years. My impression is they decided to produce it and add some filler so they could release it as an album in 2014.


Album Review

I think the above is a probable rough history for this release because it varies a lot in quality. Its best songs are outstanding pieces of music that deserve to be heard. Its weakest tracks can be skipped entirely and feel like the very definition of fillers. In this sense, it does seem like something that might have been a better fit as an EP.

The album starts with Chez les Aborigènes. Old Aksak Maboul fans will immediately get confused as they hear what sounds like synthpop featuring intelligible french vocals instead of the unintelligible mumbling and shouting, cash registers, parrots and various chamber instruments that they're used to. I like the song well enough and I believe it was released as a single. It was actually good enough to appear on this album twice as we also get a remix, but it still has nothing on the album's second track: the GORGEOUS Afflux De Luxe.

Over the years since this album came out, my love for this track has not waned. It's dreamy. It's beautiful. It mixes pop accessibility with just the right amount of avantgarde edge. Listen to that polyrhythm after the refrain at about 1:55. So simple, yet so interesting. Listen to the beautiful modulation that sometimes takes place during the verses, just slightly altering the whole mood of the song. Sublime. You may not immediately hear it, but this is a 5/5 song and a friend for life if you let it.

It has a suitably artsy music video which I've also come to love.

This is followed by Je Pleure Tout le Temps which I assume means I'm Always Crying because that's the name it has when it reappears later on the album in slightly different version and with the refrain sung in English. It's a sad and slightly funny song that might sound a little odd at first. I like this version of it, but my favorite is actually on a remix/tribute album which includes a version by artist Flavien Berger. It has a video that's available on youtube and delves a little deeper into the sad theme of the song with some interesting visuals to boot. Nevertheless, what we get here from Aksak and Veronique is also enjoyable.

We then move onto another absolute blast and the most fun song on the album, Veronika Winken. On my first listen to this album, this was the song that grabbed me (Afflux De Luxe is more of a grower) and the sound and attitude of it impressed me. Veronique is growling and you can hear they had fun making it. The best thing about it is the absolute firework that is the refrain. Listen for example to that lovely noodly guitar that comes in at the refrain starting at about 2:50. Brilliant!

I do expect that first time listeners, this is the track that will generally appeal the most.

After this, I'd like to keep the rest of this review a little short as the album enters filler country. This is why I suspect there wasn't quite enough good material recorded to make a full album in the early 80s, but they found some way to dress up / justify a release later on. We get a revisit of earlier songs and themes. The Aboriginal Variations is more or less a remix of the first track without sung vocals. Luxurious Dub is similar, only for Afflux De Luxe, but so poor in quality that it frankly sounds like drivel to me. I'm Always Crying was already mentioned as a slightly inferior version of the other two versions of Je Pleure Tout le Temps.

The songs we haven't already heard some iteration of are the tracks Réveillons-Nous, My Kind of Doll and Le Troisième Personnage. At worst, these are annoying and at best they are good. Overall, I like them fine, but definitely feel they are overshadowed by what came before.


Review Summary

In its LP version, side A would feature the first 5 tracks. On its own, that side A would be an EP worthy of at least 4 out of 5 stars to my mind. Afflux De Luxe and Veronika Winken in particular are killer tracks. It is a bit of a pity that my favourite version of the third track is not actually on this album, but the song we get it still good.

Add the side B to this and its another story as it definitely sounds like the sort of material that perhaps didn't quite cut it back in the 80s and may have kept this album from getting released back then. This is pure speculation of course, but there you go.

My recommendation for this album is go for the good bits first and see if you like them. If you do, explore the rest.

My favorite tracks: Afflux De Luxe, Veronika Winken, Je Pleure Tout le Temps (in that order)


After Ex-Futur

After Ex-Futur, an album of tributes was released called 16 Visions of Ex-Futur. My earlier mentioned preferred version of Je Pleure Tout le Temps is from this album.

Since Ex-Futur, Aksak Maboul is revived as a band and has since been fronted by the slightly aged but wonderful Veronique Vincent. They've played concerts and released another album, Figures, in 2020. Figures actually sounds more like a marriage between Ex-Futur and the Aksak Maboul we know from the latter half of the 70s. We get more of a blend between acoustic instruments along with the electronica and it's a mix they master well. As such, I quite like Figures and may write a future review.