Artificial Pleasure “A New Joy” ***1/2

For their sophomore album, A New Joy (2020), Artificial Pleasure lean more heavily on synths and a synthesized soundscape. When combined with their singer's distinctive timbre, it results in a sound even more reminiscent of The Faint than on their debut, The Bitter End (2018) (my Top Album that year; my review here). 

If that first album was their early 80s tribute, A New Joy feels like their mid 80s follow-up. AP are still pulling from the Bowie, Eno, Ferry, Talking Heads songbook but they never simply ape a formula. ANJ does not immediately grab the listener in the way that TBE did, but it's a really good album and feels like it will be a grower. There are a few tracks that don't do much for me, but thankfully the album's weakest track is also its shortest.