Berlin-based electronic duo Driftmachine, composed of Andreas Gerth and Florian Zimmer, have been patiently sailing beneath the radar for going on a decade now. Beginning with 2014’s Nocturnes, they’ve been silently perfecting their brand of ambient dub, folding in elements of acid, drone, and of course their native Kosmische, bending them all gracefully to their will. To be sure, borders within electronic are more often than not nebulous, to say the least, but Driftmachine blend without seams: not only do they not show, it’s as if they don’t exist.
Their latest and perhaps most confident release, Spume & Recollection, grew gradually from, of all things, their work on a radio play. Working together with Andreas Ammer and Acid Pauli on Zusammen Walden, they delved into the most abstract, even formless work of their careers to date: long improvisations – totalling nearly sixteen hours (with a shorter, four hour version available) – inspired by Henry David Thoreau’s Walden.
Emerging from this process, it’s no surprise they sought something more grounded and direct, while still drawing inspiration from their work on Zusammen Walden. So, while working remotely for the first time due to COVID, they delved with enthusiasm into something they felt was “very straightforward”.
Needless to say, ‘very straightforward’ will sound anything but to the casual listener, while proving truly delectable to a fan of glacial, deliberately-poised techno. Indeed, it may actually be the most immediate music of the duo’s career thus far, addicting in its blunt, if mysterious, insistency. The music seems to drift in and out of time, alternating between muted moments and unhurried rises in current.
Opener “Albatross follows a killer whale” begins softly near the coast, but gradually pulls the listener out with the tide with tones that mimic the sound of bells, and then cautiously surges forward with a lull (and the occasional ominous crash) deeper, and deeper still into the ocean. The tides are truly an apt comparison for Driftmachine: their music moves in subtle patterns, at first seemingly circular, but then broadening outward with vigorous, dynamic bass pulling the listener in and out of their shelter.
“The surge at the end of the mind”, for its part, is practically bouncy, beginning simply enough with its nod-inducing lurch, only to grow more and more propulsive as its slow burn groove kicks into (relative) high gear, the mood bordering on science fiction. It’s a twisted adventure, akin to being lost in a maze. By the time the music has come back around, you’ve hardly realized the journey you’ve been on before being plunged into the next sonic soundscape.
The four tracks here are the perfect display of these inclinations towards patient evolution. With each verging on (and the first surpassing) 10 minutes, they are given just enough time to establish themselves as independent, yet they are inextricably tied to the last, making Spume & Recollection an intriguing release designed to form one pattern from four distinct parts. It’s music of obsession, obsessively perfected.
