Maps - Counter Melodies (LP) - White Vinyl

James Chapman has been refining the Maps sound for years, carving out a corner of Mute Records where synths bloom and feelings hit like strobe lights. His debut, We Can Create, even picked up a Mercury Prize nomination back in 2007, which set a high bar for everything that followed. Counter Melodies arrives in 2023 as his most movement‑minded record, and you can hear how it’s built to flow. This is Maps leaning into rhythm and pulse, sequencing the album like a continuous set so one idea slips into the next with a DJ’s sense of momentum. It still sounds like him, just with the emphasis shifted toward the kinetic heart of the music.

The title is a neat tell. Counter Melodies is full of hooks that tumble over each other, synth lines answering synth lines, with vocals folded into the mix as texture as much as lyric. Chapman has always had a gift for dazed, yearning melodies. Here he treats them like light sources in a club, sweeping in to illuminate a part of the room before sliding away again. The drums are crisp and propulsive. Kick‑drum thump and tight hi‑hats drive the tempo while airy pads and arpeggios give everything lift. It’s the kind of record that makes even a kitchen floor feel like a small dance space.

What’s smart is how he keeps the songwriting DNA of Maps intact inside that groove. You get the emotional pull that fans loved on We Can Create and 2019’s orchestral‑leaning Colours. Reflect. Time. Loss., but now the voices are looped, pitched, and woven into the machinery. He produced and recorded it himself, as usual, working out of his home studio and stacking parts until the tracks breathe on their own. You can hear the patience in the layering. Little counter‑rhythms shake loose in the corners, reverbs open and close around a snare, bass lines move just enough to change your footing.

I love how it plays as a start‑to‑finish listen. Early cuts set the compass with clean lines and bright synths, then the album deepens into steamier late‑night passages before finding a soft landing. The transitions matter. A new chord sneaks in while the previous track is still tailing off, or a vocal fragment becomes the drum pattern in the next piece. On vinyl it makes special sense, since the side breaks give you two arcs that mirror a club set’s first and second wind. If you’re browsing a Melbourne record store and spot Counter Melodies vinyl in the racks, grab it and plan to spin both sides back to back. The low end is warm, the top end has that glassy Maps shimmer, and the sequencing rewards the format.

Context helps too. Chapman’s been with Mute long enough to feel like part of the label’s fabric, and there’s a line you can trace from classic synth pop into his widescreen melancholy. He has never chased trends. Even as Counter Melodies leans into the dancefloor, it doesn’t mimic a particular era or scene. It’s closer to an internal club, one built from memories of raves, after‑hours bus rides, and those stolen moments when you catch your breath and the melody suddenly hits harder. That personal angle is what separates it from anonymous electronic albums. You feel a person curating and coaxing the energy rather than a preset doing the heavy lifting.

If you came to Maps for big choruses, you still get them, just refracted. The vocal lines often blur into the synths, and the effect is a little addictive. You wait for the lift and then realize it already happened, tucked into a harmony or a chord change. That sleight of hand keeps the record interesting on return listens. It’s club music you can live with, which sounds like a simple thing until you notice how rare it is.

Collectors will care to know this sits neatly with earlier pressings. If you’re building a row of Maps albums on vinyl, Counter Melodies slots between the dreamy sprawl of his early work and the arranged richness of Colours. Reflect. Time. Loss. And if you’re hunting around to buy Maps records online, this is one of those titles that justifies the shipping. I’ve even seen a few copies float through sites that cater to vinyl records Australia, which is a nice surprise given how quickly Mute titles can disappear. However you find it, whether it’s in a dusty bin of Maps vinyl or a fresh shrink‑wrapped copy of Counter Melodies vinyl, this one earns a spot on the shelf and on the turntable.