MORE D4TA
The two factions that became the German electronic group Moderat—the duo Modeselektor, aka Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary, and producer Apparat, aka Sascha Ring—first met in the early 2000s while sharing a bill together. It was, perhaps, an odd coupling: Back then, Modeselektor were making dub- and dancehall-influenced breakcore, and Apparat was honing his strain of melodic electronic composition. But over a common desire to move away from the traditional techno that was soundtracking post-reunification Berlin at the time—and a love for Boards of Canada, Gescom, and other Warp and Rephlex artists—the two parties coalesced into one, while continuing to attend to their own primary projects. Their first three albums together took up a sort of abstract, dance-floor-informed electronic pop that paid as much attention to texture and programming as it did melody and vocal timbre. *MORE D4TA*, their fourth LP, comes after a six-year break following 2016’s *III*—and after a period of getting musically reacquainted during the pandemic. That last part is key: These 10 songs are a deep reflection of the tension and anxiety of the two years that preceded their release. *MORE D4TA* immediately throws you off-kilter with a woozy, plunging synth line that builds into a beehive of buzzing distortion. “EASY PREY” might clarify that murky atmosphere a little, but its lyrics—\"Raised among carnivorans/A bitter taste/I am just a low hanging fruit/Easy prey”—underscore the vulnerable feeling that any sentient being in 2022 can relate to. Those bleak themes don’t let up much. The instrumentals such as “DRUM GLOW” and \"NUMB BELL” are unsettlingly moody. But there are moments of light that occasionally fleck the darkness. On “MORE LOVE”—inspired by Botticelli’s *Venus*, which hangs in Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie, where Ring made regular visits during the pandemic—Apparat sings, \"Breathing life into dead trees/The first to stand alone/The night is worn, the night is gone/She keeps on dancing, mother of all” through a crunchy digital haze.
Back in 2017, Moderat announced that they'd be taking an extended break following a final concert in front of 17.000 people in their hometown of Berlin. And now they return. MORE D4TA, the group’s fourth album, arrives more than six years after its predecessor (2016’s III). Created largely during a time when touring (and most traveling) was off the table, MORE D4TA is an album that wrestles with feelings of isolation and information overload—issues that have become particularly pronounced over the past two years. The ten songs on MORE D4TA are rooted in collaboration, but long before any of its tracks were laid down, Moderat spent months hanging out and getting musically reacquainted, indulging in extended bouts of experimentation and slowly fleshing out ideas as they dove into modular composition, field recordings and other sonic oddities. But no matter how far the band ventures into music’s outer realms, they always wind up back in their own unique soundworld, a place where emotive pop and fluttering electronic soundscapes walk hand in hand. Many of its lyrics are rooted in Ring’s frequent trips to Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie museum (often with his infant daughter in tow), where he’d seek refuge in the great paintings of the past while worrying about the future. What they make isn’t necessarily dance music, but it is something that shines brightest in the dark of night, the group’s rich melodies and Ring’s ethereal vocals emitting a warm, almost bioluminescent glow. After spending the better part of two decades making music together, they’ve carved out a sound and aesthetic that are all their own, and MORE D4TA showcases a group that’s creatively recharged and fully dedicated to its craft.
In almost every conceivable way, MORE D4TA is the Moderat album that fans have waited six years for.
Techno supergroup Moderat went on hiatus in 2017, following three studio albums and a highly successful tour that culminated in a sold-out Berlin homecoming show, documented on their 2016 Live release.