You probably know Adam Freeland, being one of the bigger names in breaks over the past decade, the man has produced some of the scene’s best tunes and has also turned the spotlight on several of breaks’ biggest and classiest names like Evil Nine and Alex Metric. However, with Freeland it’s his ‘alter-ego’ of sorts, combining his productions with more band and a little less computers. The debut album Now & Them presented some of the cleanest and cleverest sounds in electronic in quite some time, and now they return with the new album Cope™.

Now if you’re a big fan of Now & Them and that album’s sound, you might not be the biggest fan of this. If you’ve following Freeland recently, you’ll know that his Marine Parade label has become quite prominent; but rather than in breaks, it’s in the now skyscraper high indie-dance scene. Along with this, the sound of the artists under the label’s banner have changed – see Evil Nine’s latest album They Live! for an example.

Cope™ opens up with Do You, a synth drenched and glitched to hell number, plagued by beeps and live drumming. We move into Under Control, a slick, electro rock track, moving along with high pitched beeps and squeaks, vocoders and a badass chorus and more thick kicks. Cope continues it’s kickassery with Rock On, a dark hybrid of rock and electronica, dropping a grinding electro lead fused with some grungy guitar riffs, all of this complimented fantastically by some steamy vocals from Kurt Baumann. Things become a little more laid back for Silent Speaking, which swirls the mind and ears with some whirlpool and dreamlike synths.

Cope continues with the trend of big sounding band-driven electronic rock throughout, but the closing two tracks on the other hand don’t just add to the shine of the album, but help it soar to a level of magnificent. We start with Morning Sun; born to be smashed out at an uber festival, this one oozes energy coupled with massive drums, teasing vocals and a wicked gritty synth that aids in the track’s massive sound. And like most albums I’ve heard lately, one of the closing numbers sees the BPM slow and the airy, chilled vibes come over to help you come down from the experience of it all. The final track Wish I Was Here, a gritty opening synth dropping over a reworked beat pattern to drop a DJ Shadow-esque slowdown, it adds more class with an airy chorus and it’s a very beautiful closing track, suggesting a midnight drive around the city, with the lights and the light winds pushing against your face as you look at the might of the new world.

It might be a bit too indie-dance on the first listen for Adam Freeland purists, but if you can muster the courage to give it a second listen, Cope works fantastically as a hybrid of rock and electronic. It’s unfortunate that it seems as though Adam seems to have completely dropped the breaks mantra he’s held onto so long with his label. However, bands have to evolve with trends in order to keep their listeners and the critics enjoying the music. Cope is the perfect example of how to do that magnificently.