The Retro Sound of ‘Modern Times’

Written by Maisie Woodford //

This morning, Reclaim Vienna decided to add a little bit of excitement to our currently monotonous lockdown lives with the drop of their latest surprise single ‘Modern Times’. Do note that the ‘surprise’ here applies to the listeners, 42’s records and Reclaim Vienna themselves when producer Ben Booker was able to work his magic on this track in almost no time at all. 

‘Modern Times’ is ironically packed with an energy that is undoubtedly 80’s; the synths being reminiscent of a-ha and the entire track sounding like someone took Duran Duran to a disco, in the best possible way. The Manchester 6 piece have maintained their incredible retro pop/indie blend heavily on this track, which we’ve heard before on ‘Kick the Butterfly’ and their previous single, ‘Cool With It’. 

According to lyricist and guitarist Danny Smith, the track “was written in frustration & anger at certain elements in the world currently, particularly in England. It’s about people having opinions based on no evidence and worse, having social media to share them on. You can say something now and it doesn’t even have to be true. You have the right to your own opinion, but you don’t have the right to your own facts. They should remain the same.” With Covid-19 conspiracies being violently spread across social media, the track’s release date couldn’t have been timed better. 

I encourage you to take a note from Reclaim Vienna in your lockdown and remember that “people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”. If this philosophy doesn’t sound right in your head, give the track a listen and maybe the vocals of Jonathan Steen being beautifully backed by Sarah Hardisty will help…