Daniel Stephens and Joe Ray, of London electronic act Nero, are not meant for an obsolete sound system. This is the reason noise-canceling headphones and club tours were invented — a neo-’80s guitar and synth tumult driving dazed masses to sexily gyrate in blue laser light. Past collaborations with top-tier acts La Roux and deadmau5, among others, only further cement the fantasy Nero is trying to construct.

Welcome Reality finds pulsing crescendos, wobbly bass (“Fugue State”, “Innocence”), and Europop (“Guilt”, “Promises”) used delectably well. Labeled a concept work, it instead resembles a dubstep re-imagining of Giorgio Moroder compositions from nearly 30 years ago, Alana Watson’s wispy voice occasionally breaking its monotony (“My Eyes”).

“Crush on You”, one of seven singles, hearkens back to commanding ’90s artists like C&C Music Factory sans hip-hop, shouting the chorus ad nauseum as call-and-response crowd control. “Reaching Out” rides tinkling keyboards and a male voice reminiscent of how Eiffel-65 would’ve sounded had they not been super-focused on singing about Nintendo and blue people. Nero brings up loud, positive electronica bordering MIDI to the Nth degree (“Me and You”), incorporating symphonic bombast and solid, somewhat muted guitar to pleasing effect (“Doomsday”). One minute you rave, the next you grind, yet nothing feels unnecessarily out of control.

While there are no distinctly broader themes than perhaps what Daft Punk explored with Discovery (see: Interstella 5555), this latest UK-bred club record comes down to individual taste. Welcome Reality inversely breaks us from our “desert of the real” to reveal an unseen utopia populated by denizens paralleling ourselves. They are souls without vessels who make love like animals long extinct, who convulse to a disco tune aliens read as a party invite. Had Nero not loitered on their cozy euphoric plateau, Welcome Reality may have given those Tron: Legacy co-conspirators a good fight.

Essential Tracks: “Promises”, “My Eyes”, and “Doomsday”