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Mar 29, 2019 Apparat By James Thornhill

Stepping away from his Moderat collaboration with fellow Germans Modeselektor, Sascha Ring returns after six years with a new album under his Apparat guise. Again, he provides another otherworldly blend of deep orchestration, post-rock echoes, and techno-informed pop.

Album opener “VOI_DO” glimmers into life with echoes of Talk Talk’s introspective and expansive later works before setting into the emotive, melodic vocal electronica that Apparat has near perfected.

Ring’s kaleidoscopic approach to genre is somehow condensed into an accessible pop listen, albeit with a frosty and austere exterior. The Apparat persona is where Ring takes the experiences of the dancefloor to meditate on life into the early hours.

Where Moderat provided a vehicle for grand pop gestures, the return to Apparat is an excuse for immersion in nuance and minor aural details. While LP5 treads the line of being a “pop” record, “IN GRAVITAS” could fit any EDM-fuelled-pop playlist, it is the sound bubbling underneath that make such a compelling listen.

The collaboration with cellist Philipp Thimm, alongside jubilant wind instruments, double bass, and other strings provides a glimpse of organic reality through the shoegaze haze and subtle hisses, blips, and beats. LP5 is a sound sculpture of a kind that the sadly departed Mark Hollis might have concocted had he found a love of German techno.

Despite the lush listenability, LP5 is injected with a rush of experimental sounds. “EQ_BREAK” trawls the depths of ambient music, washing a reassuring wave over the listener. First single, “DAWAN” is a stand out with its softened drum ‘n’ bass beats and affected sub-funk, double bass.

Though a jubilant work, in general, LP5 feels like a more mournful, deep creation than Ring’s past efforts, finding some optimism in a world fractured by uncertainty and violence. Apparat hasn’t returned with anything new, just an album that delves further into the abyss and makes you want to sink with it. (www.apparat.net)

Author rating: 7/10