Bleep

The world has changed immeasurably since Moderat took their indefinite “end of an era” hiatus in 2017. Themes of isolation have characterised much of our increasingly technologically mediated landscape since then, reflected with intensity by many artists despite the interruptions of the music industry at large. The trio separated, stewing on these themes for some time, before reuniting to experiment on the album that would become their response.

Though depicting a cold world, narrated by the ghostly lamentations of digital voices, MORE D4TA is filled with warmth and life. Not only in its brief but relieving flourishes of humanity and natural soundscapes but in the way its synths move, reconfigure themselves, and adapt to their environment. Moderat display their unique ability to strike balance between the mathematical and instinctual hemispheres of music by creating rhythmically propelling tunes from robotic processes, coaxing out every little bit of deeply affecting emotion from all instruments and hardware they get their hands on.

‘Fast Land’ plunges us into the wormhole, collapsing under its own gravity as its momentum dissolves after aetheric synths swarm in their accretion. Echoes of familiarity surface on ‘Easy Prey’, but they are no more than echoes merging with Moderat’s irradiated sound world. Sascha Ring AKA Apparat’s despondent vocals call out to empty chasms and scorched seas, his subtle trembling evoking a dystopian ecstasy.

The bittersweet trance of ‘Neon Rats’ acts like a microcosm of MORE D4TA. Full of big sounds and even bigger feelings, it’s begging to be played in the grandest of concert halls, away from the information overload or constant content streams to a place where human experience reigns supreme.