Com Truise @ Sneaky Pete's, 3 Dec

Some artists make their mark with simple raw energy or bold originality.  Others are content to show that they are well schooled in existing forms and act as gifted torchbearers, slightly redefining a sound which has long been considered established. Seth Haley, aka Com Truise, is very much in the latter category.  

His first full album, Galactic Melt, which was released earlier this year on Ghostly International, shows off the New Yorker’s evident adoration and undeniable mastery of the synth.  On tracks such as Flightwave, there are echoes of forerunners such as Vangelis. Standout tunes Cathode Girls and Brokendate sound more contemporary and ooze atmosphere and style in equal measure. The overall sound is, in the words of the Washington Post, “retro-futuristic”. That is, it seems, to belong to the kind of future naively dreamt up by those in the past.    

Having been likened to Krautrock pioneers Tangerine Dream, Boards of Canada and even late era Pink Floyd, Com Truise will no doubt find it hard to evade unfair comparisons with other synth-tamers of old. Yet, while there is nothing particularly groundbreaking about Haley’s productions, you cannot help but be won over by the impact and sheer beauty of his music.