Who says you can’t do things fast and do things well at the same time? Following last year’s dance floor-ready EP on John Talabot’s label Hivern Discs, Berlin resident Ralf Schmidt — a.k.a. Aera — is already getting ready to drop his second full-length LP. The Sound Path will be out April 4 via Permanent Vacation, and that can only mean one thing: another inspired journey through the eclectic history of electronic music, as reimagined by an insider hailing from the expansive genre’s longtime epicenter.
Aera’s debut album, 2013’s Offseason Traveller, was just that; confidently stacking up house, breakbeat, and IDM arrangements on top of a spacious ambient soundscape. Since its release, the German producer and DJ has put out numerous original tracks and remixes that have taken his sound slightly more into “bubbly acid and trancey territories,” while still making sure his knack for prime sound design didn’t get lest in the shuffle. According to the press release, The Sound Path further expands the collage with krauty, cinematic, and new-age flairs, while still (somehow) coming through as the musician’s most coherent release to date.
The Sound Path can be pre-ordered here on CD or double LP (with a download code, of course). For now, listen to the opening track from Aera’s self-titled 2017 EP:
The Sound Path tracklisting:
01. To The Edge Of The World
02. A Child’s Dance
03. Flowers Under Water
04. Logic & Kindness
05. The Sun Will
06. Distance Beyond
07. Looming Lights
08. May Your Heartflame Continue
09. Space Before Wake
10. All The Birds
11. Stitch In Time
12. Old Lighthouse