This Is Our Jam: Badlands, “Never Dry Out”

The physics of zeitgeist dictate that when a sound goes unappreciated for long enough, it eventually reaches a new audience. Whether it be AraabMuzik’s darkened trance, Destroyer and Bon Iver’s yacht rock forays, or Rihanna’s flirtation with ‘90s house, what was once seen as laughably uncool seems to inevitably finds its way back to younger, less-jaded ears.

Badlands, a duo from Malmö, Sweden, seem acutely aware of this trend with their single “Never Dry Out.” While fellow Swedes jj have taken Enya as a key influence, and Sade’s uber-smooth R&B has seen a recent (much deserved) resurgence, “Never Dry Out” takes adult contemporary and pop new-ageism to levels not seen since the mid '90s. The result is a bit like like Madonna’s “Frozen” re-imagined with shoegazey delay pedals, or Sting’s “Desert Rose” with less Arabic. If you aren’t immediately turned off by this description, the result is sonically lush, and surprisingly hypnotic. There’s enough prepacked nostalgia floating around as is, but rarely does it sound so beautifully unforced. I’ll suspend my disbelief if you will.