Elevated Focusion – Space Dance (Album Review)

In today’s review, an act that had previously been covered and featured returns to Music Review World, with an interesting pivot from their previous project. The act is none other than Elevated Focusion, which has had their previous albums dissected by us. If you’re new to the artist, it truly is imperative that you read the previous reviews to get a gist of what their artistry is like.

The lore of Elevated Focusion is quite distinct. It was the name of an all-instrumental album the artist released under the name ‘Jonny Rythmns’ in 2022. It then caught on, and became the name chosen for his new era of music in 2023, collaborating with musicians worldwide and adding vocals to tracks for the first time.

Elevated Focusion draws inspiration from their own life experiences within the vibrant kaleidoscope of what defines NYC, with the intent to elevate that NY state of mind reaching out to various corners of the globe. At the end of the day, the artist’s bottom line is to enhance our appreciation of the world through an experimental fusion of eclectic music that spans many genres.

In this instance, he has come up with the album ‘Space Dance’, described as an eclectic electronic space pop concept album influenced by popular music within the zeitgeist of the 80s and 90s. He is not claiming to have reinvented the wheel with these songs, but rather, create something unique with parts that are loved and familiar.

The first track, ‘Space Station Bugout’, comes in pretty strong with a fairly well-mastered blend between the strong basses of the 80s and a bit of acid as well. It has a very delectable dark theme from the timbre and the pads used within the song and actually is quite satisfying to listen to, but the voice in the track detracts from the potential of the track. It’s subjective though, and I don’t think the vocals fit this particular track. Otherwise, it’s very well-executed, almost reminding you of a darker version of ‘I Feel Love’ by Donna Summer. A great use of synthesis.

The tracks afterwards follow that trend of a deeper, bass-heavy synthesis, with a dark chord progression. In the track ‘Drugs and Outerspace’, it gives me more of a 90s trip-hop and eclectic feel, putting you in the mind of Massive Attack and some of David Bowie’s 90s experimental work. It has a ‘mantra’ feel to it, with a bit of motivic variation, but I think this track puts the lyrics more to the front. In terms of production I think it’s decent. The saxophone/woodwinds really help to elevate the track and give it the oomph it needs, once again, the vocals aren’t really what do it for me. I think the track has decent presence by itself.

‘Raving on That Galactic High’ rides on the hyperpop aesthetics of the 80s, with filtered synths and a specific percussive beat that’s reminiscent of certain drum machines, with bits of disco. I think in this case the vocals do match the instrumentation and help to bring it out quite well. It’s unique to me how even though this track does not specifically sound ‘darker’ compared to the rest, it still has Elevated Focusion’s unique touch to it with enough techniques to not make the sound monotonous at all. It’s very dreamy.

Afterwards, ‘I Dream of Eden’ almost sounds like a modern take on some of Tears for Fears’ anthemic songs, with a slight technological and bubbly feel. It has a more anthemic feel to it. However, ‘Space Dance’ which follows it definitely does it for me in terms of the instrumental. It feels like as if it’s meant to take you to a different dimension, with the way the production and chord structure goes. It’s a wonderful sea of various synthesis techniques, and it’s all so encompassing that my brain doesn’t even consider the vocals (it doesn’t necessarily clash, but the production is just that good.) It even adds a bit of that Kraftwerk-esque 80s percussion at the end, with hip-hop elements at the end.

‘Cosmic Abstractions’, which follow suit, makes me feel conflicted. I don’t think the vocal style in this track does justice to the wonderfully dark soundscape until the vocals are used as an effect with the gate effect. It starts off synthpop, and then the vox effects used reminds me of some of Art of Noise’s compositional techniques. The percussion is delicately crafted to draw you in, and when the pads come in, the track almost reminds me of a lot of Wolfsheim’s mid-00s work. It’s very engaging and thought-provoking. I just wish a filter was put on the main vocals to match the feel of the rest of the track. It also possesses a high amount of motivic variation, with the percussion changing towards the end of the track, reminding me of the way A.R. Rahman used to fuse technologically forward sounds with slight ‘ethnic’ breaks in the middle.

‘Planetary Abstraction’ then enters the soundscape, with an early 80s late 70s feel in terms of the synthesis used. It is very early Kraftwerk. The synthesis used in this track feels very ‘horizontally’ and all-encompassing, and I think some people would dig the delivery of the vocals. I’m not particularly crazy over it, but it does remind me a bit of Siouxsie and the Banshees. This is then continued with ‘Space Rider’, which comes in with a mysterious and subversive syncopation paired with the vocals. It is initially quite simple, but the synthesizers and the pads used within the track simply elevate it beyond its means. At the 1:38 mark, that’s when the track truly shines. It’s dramatic, it’s technological, it’s just amazing.

This album truly has something for everyone, with ‘Unfamiliar Eyes’ taking you on a technologically-souped up version of edgier, anthemic rock tracks- maybe even glam rock to a degree. It kind of puts me in the mind of an improved version of Linkin Park, which is quite interesting. The guitar solo and melodic lines are the star of the show, and the vocals within this track is good. The album finishes with ‘Haunting Feeling’, a darkwave track that puts you in the mind of Marilyn Manson-meets-Bauhaus. It’s definitely interesting, with the slight choral synthesizers in the background.

I’m unsure if these vocals are AI-generated or sung by humans, as the vocalists are not credited within the tracks, so I’d also like to remind artists to disclose if it is or not in these times where AI and reality is certainly blurred. This is not a jab at the artist at all, just an observation.

All in all, this album was a very interesting album to listen to with a large capacity for deep emotions and compositional intent through the richness of the production and the musical intent. In a lot of these tracks, there’s a lot of musical potential being displayed but in my ears the addition of vocals make it quite unnecessary. In fact, I strongly suggest Elevated Focusion to perhaps release an ‘instrumental-only’ version of this album, for people like me who are quite impressed by him from a production and compositional standpoint.

Even though he claims not to have reinvented the wheel with these songs, I definitely would say that he kind of has. They all have an edge to them that is unique and not like most people that take inspiration from that era of music and compose something that is extremely predictable and commercial. That itself, is an achievement.

Score/Excellent: ‘Space Dance’ is an extremely unique take on an artist that has evidently taken inspiration from sounds and music production techniques from the 80s and 90s, reimagining it with his signature ‘dark edge’ when it comes to music with excellent and ultra-engaging soundscapes, definitely drawing you in as a listener.

[We rank singles, EPs, and albums on a scale of Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, and Outstanding]

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