Parallel Streams: James Ellis Ford Remakes the Synth-Pop Diary

Here is a snippet of my latest article. You can find the whole article here on Substack.

Although it was created in seclusion, the album invites the listener back to the room. 

The opening track Overtones feels like a jump cut into a movie scene.  There is no grand introduction, no fading in from a black screen. The camera simply turned on, focused on James in frame as the opening scene.

In an interview with John Doran, James speaks of looking out the window of his hospital room and onto a world he’s detached from, a world “going on without you,” yet viewing it as a portal instead of a sentence.

This profound and uplifting perspective is felt throughout the dreamy and surreal synth-pop melodies on Lost in Another World.

There is an atmospheric approach to the sound reminiscent of the 1980s melancholic alternative soundscapes, which refuse to sound tragic. His resilience unfolds in a natural narrative, an audio diary rather than through a lavish monologue.