Today’s Crack Magazine premiere comes from one of the most consistent and respected figures within German dance music.
Stylistically, the Darmstadt-born DJ and producer has never limited himself. His sets can be deep and psychedelic, or tuned to the frequencies of festivals and big rooms. During the aughts, he co-ran key Frankfurt labels Playhouse, Klang Electronic and Ongaku, with all three telegraphing the city’s strain of trippy, afterparty minimalism to the rest of Europe. For many, though, the name Roman Flügel is synonymous with two key dancefloor anthems: his own Geht’s Noch and Rocker, released as Alter Ego alongside his collaborator Jörn Elling Wuttke.
However, Flügel shifted away from the 4/4 pulse of club music on his 2016 full-length All the Right Noises. The ambient-leaning album functioned as a kind of palate cleanser, resetting expectations some two decades into his career. Interestingly, his EP from January this year switched things up yet again, containing three unreleased techno tracks from 1995, hinting that Flügel was entering a phase of career reflection, looking backwards while exploring a new sonic identity.
Themes, his first full-length since All the Right Noises is a continuation of that mood. It marks his first release for Lovefingers’ label ESP Institute, and continues further down the route of experimentation. Cryptically, when asked how to sum up the record, Flügel said, “I’ve tried to reduce notes even further.”
Atmospheric, sparse and punctuated with curlicues of synth and drifting pads, Themes is another departure for an artist who refuses to stand still. Be the first to stream the release via the player above. Scroll down for tracklist and artwork.
Tracklist
01. Theme I
02. Theme II
03. Theme III
04. Theme IV
05. Theme V
06. Theme VI
07. Theme VII
08. Theme VIII
09. Theme IX
10. Theme X
11. Theme XI
12. Theme XII
13. Theme XIII
ESP Institute will release Themes on October 26th, 2018.
