After a quarter century of nearly nonstop activity, dystopian Detroit
synth-punk institution ADULT. have perfected a strain of stylistic
cohesion in the album format, "but for this we wanted something that's
falling apart." Becoming Undone, the 9th official full-length by cofounders Nicola Kuperus and Adam Lee Miller, explicitly succeeds in this
aim, simultaneously rejecting and reflecting the planetary discord that
inspired it. Begun in the latter half of 2020 against a backdrop of
unprecedented flux and seismic isolation, the duo kickstarted their muse
by sourcing fresh additions to the rig: a vocal loop pedal for Kuperus and
Roland percussion pads for Miller. Reconnecting with legacy influences
like the politicized industrial percussion of Test Department and the
queasy miscreant synthetics of TG's 20 Jazz Funk Greats sparked a
series of fruitfully frenetic sessions, centered on themes of
impermanence and dissonance. Miller's rationale is blunt: "We weren't
interested in melody or harmony since we didn't see the world having
that."
