Future Perfect (Loadstar album)

Background and recording

Some of the initial ideas for album tracks, such as "Eat My Tears", were created as early as 2010. "Losing You" was another of the first to be produced. The duo produced probably "over 100 tracks" since the album concept came about, but only a few made the final cut. In May 2012, the album was considered "finished" and due for October 2012 release, but the release was pushed forward to May 2013 after more tracks were produced for it. Speaking about the album, Nick said the following:

“We’ve had time to really go deep into our ideas and fine tune how we wanted to present the album. It’s about finding the balance between the dancefloor D&B that people know us for and trying to show a different side to us like our deeper material, the dubstep stuff, even hip-hop influences. That’s why it’s taken so long to get it right. Loadstar has been a journey of discovery for us. We were getting associated with our old sound for a long time, Loadstar, and notably this album, is a new beginning. That’s why it couldn’t be ‘D&B bangers album with nothing in between’ album. There’s more to albums than that, and there’s more to us than that, too…”

The Future Perfect remix album was released on 15 December 2013. Loadstar hosted a remix contest for the track "Dr. Karg", choosing Λlity and Abstr4ct as the winners whose remixes feature on the release. They also produced a VIP mix of "Losing You" featuring Jenn D to appear on the release alongside the winners and three RAM Records artists. Loadstar have also created a VIP mix of "Warrior" featuring Jakes, which features on the Andy C compilation Nightlife 6.

Influences and themes

The duo were influenced by the breakbeats on The Chemical Brothers' album Exit Planet Dust, as well as Dillinja's album Cybotron which inspired Nick's melodic touches and Gavin's technical skills. Nick was majorly influenced by Leftfield's album Leftism, and it played a key part in his love for dance music.

The album title Future Perfect originated from a demo song they wrote, which ended up not making it onto the album, and was also inspired by its grammatical sense. The duo "just wanted it to be an artist album, a piece of work that summed us up as a collective, and a complete project and that had all our styles and influences in there."

Singles

Reception

The album received mixed to positive reviews from critics, but failed to chart despite a TV ad campaign. However, the album received positive reviews from renowned dance music blogs Mixmag and DJ Mag. Mixmag said "the duo primed for D&B domination" and that the album "adeptly works the line between stadium anthems and underground bangers". RWD Magazine credited the album as "fusing perfectly the intensity of D&B". DJ Mag Canada gave the album 8/10 and said the album is "15 tracks of summer blockbuster dramatics and air punching energy". They also said the following:

"In a release with fifteen tracks, we can’t expect one anthem after another, with the occurrence of such albums being rare. What we do get from this particular LP is a variety of tracks which have already been dominating mixes and live sets for weeks and will continue to do so through the future. What we also get from Future Perfect are tracks that are going to provide a foundation for both themselves and other producers to develop their sound while inspiring continued growth and the blurring of boundaries."

Track listing