Future One Do We Need Another Psycho
(Independent)
Future One, Peekskill musician Paul J Magliari’s one-man project, returns to follow up 2021’s excellent Lost Highway with Do We Need Another Psycho. The title track has a sly, smooth, Duran Duran-meets-Eels charm: “Who is to blame? Was it all true?” Paul wonders, before a quirky, climbing scale and sort of Leonard Cohen-by-way-of-post-Roger Waters-Pink Floyd instrumental passage takes over. Throughout the album, slice-of-life lyrics pair with self-aware snark and an aesthetic akin to Paul McCartney or early Elvis Costello, making the most of melody, whimsy, and tasteful restraint. It isn’t easy to write multifaceted tunes that are kinetic, catchy, and clever, but Magliari nails it; Bizou and Gothic Tropic come to mind as other current artists who likewise don’t tip their hand while blowing minds. “Hold Me, Hold You” comes off like the Beatles writing a mid-period Clash song, just a pure joy.
This article appears in February 2024.
