Aera - The Third Wave EP

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  • Aera is something like a German version of Lone that references house rather than British '90s hardcore. The thread that ties them together is neon, twinkles and dreams. It's quite a loose description, though, mainly because Ralf Schmidt, who's been on liebe*detail and Dessous as part of Goldwill—and worked with Till Von Sein—seems restless and not inclined to settle completely into any kind of style. "What's Her Name Again" has a skippy garage beat, fitting in with post-dubstep probably, "What's My Name Again" slides around in tempo and "The Drift" and "Monte Sacro" both chug progressively. They're all underpinned by a steady house beat, but that's about all the tracks have in common. The moods are similarly variant, generally coalescing around sweetness. Things get quite experimental, (wildly, in the case of "What's My Name"), with textures created from myriad shards of sound. Alongside the iridescent sounds, melodies and harmonies, it's a precious combination. It can get to be a bit too much of an effect-fest sometimes, with knob-happy tweaks appearing for the sake of general invigoration rather than serving a more direct purpose. This makes it all sometimes feel like a sound in development: experimenting, but not having learnt all the lessons yet. Nevertheless, plenty of kudos for it, and in such neat combination with beauty and playablity, it'd really be boorish to complain too much.
  • Tracklist
      A1 What's Her Name Again? A2 What's My Name Again? B1 The Drift B2 Monte Sacro
RA