Messages

The first time I heard Messages, I got hooked on that synthesizer loop that seems to float above the rhythm. It's not a track that moves in a straight line: the bass and drums create a repeating foundation, but with an unexpected twist that makes it sound more organic than many tracks of its time. Mike Score's voice floats over layers of clean, almost ethereal sound, as if the track were suspended in space. It's no coincidence that the entire album — A Flock of Seagulls — was associated with science fiction stories: this particular cut encapsulates that futuristic atmosphere without falling into the obvious.

They recorded it in Liverpool with borrowed equipment and under the direction of Mike Howlett, a producer who had previously worked with bands like Gong. Engineer Mike Shipley gave the sound that crystalline brightness, as if every note were polished. It lasted just over two and a half minutes, but in that time it achieved something rare for 1982: sounding both modern and timeless at once. The album was released in April of that year, just as new wave was starting to dominate the radio waves, and while I Ran (So Far Away) was the hit that took it to the Top 10 in the United States, Messages is the track that best defines the band's DNA: cold synthesizers, mechanical rhythms, and a melody that sticks without you realizing it.