Automatic

Automatic makes deviant pop music that cuts through the brainrot. Balancing irreverence with sharp commentary, the L.A. three‑piece approached their third album with a dark sense of humor and a swing in their step. Izzy Glaudini (synths, vocals), Halle Saxon (bass, vocals), and Lola Dompé (drums, vocals) — believe that the message of change is best served with a backbeat and a cheeky groove, and on their new album Is it Now?, they demand we look at the world’s oppressive structures with fresh urgency.

For Is It Now?, Automatic collaborated with the producer Loren Humphrey (Cameron Winter, Nice As Fuck, Arctic Monkeys) to build on the sound of previous albums Signal and Excess – minimalist yet danceable songs which they describe as “deviant pop”. While their previous albums were more grid-based, this record pushed them to play live and loose: long takes, a rhythm section that really breathes. Perky minimalist grooves and affable pop melodies are a Trojan horse for Automatic to wheel in playful political commentary. It might take a few listens of ‘mq9’ before you realize that its pulse-and-groove bassline, stabbing synths, and sci-fi kitsch FX are meant to mimic the sound of drone bombs.

The band wanted to make an album that could sit comfortably next to records by artists like A Certain Ratio or Air. On ‘Don’t Wanna Dance’ they nod to the influence of Caribbean music on the late-1970s British scene, tracing where dub collides with punk and funk merges into motorik grooves. On ‘Smog Summer,’ they take a cue from Patrick Cowley (also the inspiration for ‘NRG’ from Excess), anchoring an environmentalist message to a disco thrum.

“I feel like this album displays all the different ways you can react to the current state of the world,” says Lola. While Automatic is unsparing, condemning automated warfare (‘mq9’), mindless consumerism (‘Is It Now?’), the political influence of oil (‘The Prize’) — Is It Now? offers clues as to how we might respond: dancing, resisting, coming together, falling in love.

Like its title, Is It Now? doesn’t pretend to have all the answers, but it might just inspire you to ask better questions — or at least dance yourself awake in the search.