FM Skyline - Illuminations
Illuminations
FM Skyline
Album
Vaporwave
Liam Murphy
June 23, 2022
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.avif)
April 26, 2026
Tracks in this feature
Tracks in this release
When pondering what goes behind creating a catchy song, attributions like the melody, bridge, or even mixing are valid insights. But what about design?
U is a nostalgic invitation into underscores’ (April Harper Grey) younger days as a toddler obsessed with architecture – the curved and smoothed buildings with a Y2K progressive optimism – constantly nose deep in interior design books instead of playing with conventional toys. In rendering out her space on this album, she’s given listeners one of the most well-produced pop albums of the last few years, exuding this consumer-grade package seemingly designed to engage every muscle and sinew of your headphones in navigating the excitement of young adult relationships through this sharp control of 2020s hyperpop.
And this is an untouched space: she departs from the emo-pop of Fishmonger and the more conceptually driven Wallsocket, serving as a coalition of those two projects into a more precise direction in her signature sound.
With this romanticised designer mindset, it’s no surprise that a track like the single Music feels calculated and perfectly tapered; sharp, loud pulses of electropop are almost comedically heavy, her voice an acapella-esque conductor rather than a vapid accessory.
Though tracks are full to burst, Grey’s production actually has a unique punch of minimalism to it. No element is overlaid by the other, no incidental sounds, an aspect that parallels the new millennium cleanliness of Y2K interior design. Grey euphorically details the feeling of romantic connection. It results in a dramatic pop song that instantly clicks with the listener and, without a doubt, contributed to the mainstream success of U when the single hit streaming platforms in late 2025, helped along by an incredible, choreographed music video. In service of this excitable narrative, Music ends in dramatic, ethereal EDM breakdowns that add volume to an already uniform, ultimately closing the track on a dreamlike aroma of dainty synth.
If you could believe it, Innuendo (I Get U) switches up the situation by slowing things down to a more tension-heavy modern lounge, with pacing broken up through flashy interludes, puncturing the listener with precision as they sit across in a cold stare of their date with concealed expectation.
The lyrics – much like its title – say enough without signalling direct intent, an “innuendo.” The jointing between pacing and avoidance is here to accentuate the feeling of uncovering a partner's “type”; all of it was nothing more than a casual fling. It’s an enthralling contrast to the mood of the aforementioned single, and the materialism and prudence that wedges in between each chorus only further push this avoidance of a brief affair’s closure, the BPM ramping up to this eclipsing of buried guilt.
Perhaps the most chaotically designed, the combination of Grey’s distinct vocals, percussive guitars and electropop bob and weave in fine-tuned patterns on Do It. Compared to the roller coaster of emotions catalogued in those last two tracks, this compositional choice is the understandably risque conclusion, a proposal for a new relationship. It’s hopeful, but that brings uncertainty; the transition point in a romantic cycle of a young person’s life.
It can be interpreted that this glistening, tech-y consumerist atmosphere that Grey channels is created for escapism. Therefore, U may very well be at that crossroads of pop, pulling from a promised past while also showing the once and future potential of this sound to galvanise fans, even as the present industry
While structurally solid and comprised of good quality materials, some of the best examples of design show a true creative touch scaled for mass appeal. In this case, U goes above and beyond in creating a pristine pop structure for the listener to play in, while underscores serenades you with electropop that perfectly fits like a mould.
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