There’s a stack of new releases to work through, but things simply can’t get much better than a Major Parkinson single so early in the year, and ‘Algorithm is a Dancer’ is a dark and withering assessment of our social media led society, delivered on a musical scale that only the Bergen seven piece are capable of achieving. It’s the 1st time we’ve heard from them since their 80’s inspired ‘Valesa - Chapter 1: Velvet Prison’ release, an album I grew to love, and was probably entirely necessary, given their monumental ‘Blackbox’ album could never be followed.
‘Algorithm is a Dancer’ was originally going to be the final track on Valesa, but it was felt that ‘Heroes’ was a more suitable conclusion, with the band suggesting that this new single can still to be seen as part of that 2022 album release. To me I hear elements in the single from across the last 3 albums, all the way back to the thumping sonic scale of ‘Heart Machine’ from Twilight Cinema, but I don’t want to get wrapped up too much in that, I just love the song, the darkness of the opening 2 minutes, the most gorgeous glimpse of light at 3:40 with trumpets and a Claudia Cox vocal tune, before it all descends back into darkness again.
As always trying to summarise a Major Parkinson track is pretty much impossible, but all credit to Apollon Records for their description: “The track holds a mirror up to our algorithm-driven age, where Mickey Mouse wields a Molotov, and paper crowns are soaked in gasoline. Musically, this track is a kaleidoscopic collision of influences: California by Mr. Bungle, The Wall by Pink Floyd, Big Mess by Danny Elfman, and The Fragile by Nine Inch Nails. It’s haunting yet mesmerizing, a sonic reflection of a society manipulated by illusions and consumed by its viral fever. A prophetic anthem for a narcissistic culture, where winners write the rules and humans become little more than monkeys on treadmills. In the algorithm’s hands, we’re all dancers—are you ready for the final act?”
Now I can’t deny I was left to an extent simply wanting ‘more trumpets’, but that would have defeated the object of the song of course. We live in dark and dangerous times, and Major Parkinson releasing this song at the start of 2025 is quite simply perfect timing.
Release Date: 20th January 2025
Label: Degaton Records