Science and the Beat

This is how the world ends: with deafening indifference and retread of age-old strife. How we choose ride out this wave varies, but still falls into the principle camps of acceptance and denial. Science and the Beat choose the latter, wanting to live moderately in their impact but decadent within themselves; feeling and loving in productive ways that give meaning to their lives. Science is the means to try and make sense of it all. The beat informs the rhythm and the approach. Nothing else matters. Multi-instrumentalists Tasha Katrine and Rob Zilla have been carving out their creative vision since being introduced in their teens. The approach has been dexterous, mixing live shows with elaborate video and lighting installations – most notably as More Machine Than Man. As a fixture in the Goth Industrial scene, the pair was conscious of the expectations and rigid identity that develops with a long-term project. To keep those limitations from becoming self-imposed, the mission became letting creativity have free reign. Future Blue, then, sounds like actualization: two people growing into their cynicism and finding it to be just as potent as their youthful yearnings. Produced by Wade Alin (Christ Analogue, The Atomica Project) Future Blue pulsates with clean, taut synths that create something like a strop for the sharp and decisive use of guitar. For the subject matter, it is fitting that the title be just as evocative: blue as tranquil, hopeful and expansive? Or the hue we use to illustrate our woes? If the music is inherently cinematic, then characters are found not in the lyrical content but assumed by Katrine in her individualized delivery for each track. “Sorry,” a pouty kiss-off to a wastrel she knows did not deserve her anyway, finds her cooing like Sara Jay beckoning Neo into true consciousness. A kittenish slink makes the confessions of “Mean Streak” sound appealing before giving way to an earnest defiance on “Never Letting Go.” Katrine’s voice has an inherent dewy quality that belies her on-going struggle with Sjogren’s syndrome: an immune disorder that affects the salivary glands responsible for producing moisture in the throat. Their relocation to Seattle from Boston was in search of a more favorable living climate: mild and humid. Extreme cases have resulted in a complete loss of voice and it is pushing Katrine to not only make the most of her voice but to also utilize instruments as well. — Monet Harris We believe in Science and the Beat.