Perhaps influenced by the commercial success of the synth-pop

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Perhaps influenced by the commercial success of the synth-pop revival of the 2010s, Adam Granduciel went for the dancefloor on Lost in the Dream (Secretly Canadian, 2014). The opener, Under the Pressure, aims plainly for the dance club, despite semi-spoken Bob Dylan-ian vocals. The more atmospheric and catchy Red Eyes (and possibly catchiest of his career) harks back to Billy Idol and crosses his industrial beat and robotic delivery with Bruce Springsteen-ian pathos. The album is weighted down by songs that test one's patience: the endless litany Suffering; the pop-soul electronic ballad Disappearing (ghastly visions of a resurrection of Yazoo or of the 100th Depeche Mode album); the tedious elegy Lost in the Dream; the pensive closer In Reverse that makes even Cat Stevens look like a philosopher; or An Ocean in Between the Waves, that sounds like U2 at their most moronic fueled by a robotic techno beat and an elastic bassline, all wrapped up in romantic synth drones. It is also embarrassing how derivative songs such as Eyes to the Wind (an impeccable imitation of Tom Petty's folk-rock) and Burning (which almost plagiarizes Springsteen's Dancing in the Dark) are. This band is building a career how of photocopying those three generations of bards (Dylan, Springsteen, Petty). Anybody who thought that roots-rock of the USA was terribly provincial was just served a major proof. On the upside, there is certainly elegance and competence in the way trance-inducing pseudo-psychedelic guitar effects add a layer of meaning to simple songs, and there is certainly a great hidden contribution by pianist Robbie Bennett (Granduciel's Al Kooper?), and more intelligent use of the synthesizer. And there are certainly some great refrains (mainly Red Eyes).