Berlin-based electronic artist Apparat (aka Sascha Ring) joined the Mute family with his last LP The Devil's Walk and has now prepared his next effort for the esteemed imprint. Titled Krieg und Frieden (Music for Theatre), it arrives February 19 in North America (February 18 in the UK and February 15 in Germany).
A press release for the album explains that it was conceived to accompany German contemporary theatre magnate Sebastian Hartmann's production of Tolstoy's War and Peace. Ring prepped the piece for four weeks in an abandoned Berlin factory with a 30-piece ensemble.
"This is anything but conventional theatre," he said in a statement of the troupe. "It's a free space, where a bunch of freaks can go wild. It starts with the lights and stops with the actual actors. At night, we worked on the music in the empty hall. It was kind of magical."
While the project was expected to wrap following the final live performance, Ring ended up tracking the work offstage with cellist Philipp Timm and violinist Christoph Hartmann, who play in Apparat's live band. "Because it evolved out of a process, and transformed all the time, there's always been a certain freshness to it," Ring said of the sessions.
He continued: "In the studio the material got another twist, became a real piece of music. I took the recordings with me, wherever I was — at home, at a hotel room, in an airplane, and straightened it up. I decided to not go completely crazy about the editing, I didn't want the music to become demanding. Every record tends to become mere work at some point. Euphoria then turns into the feeling that you are standing in the middle of a huge construction site. I actively wanted to avoid this feeling this."
For a taste of the new album, you can stream Apparat's gently polyrhythmic, piano-driven pleaser "A Violent Sky" in the player down below.
A press release for the album explains that it was conceived to accompany German contemporary theatre magnate Sebastian Hartmann's production of Tolstoy's War and Peace. Ring prepped the piece for four weeks in an abandoned Berlin factory with a 30-piece ensemble.
"This is anything but conventional theatre," he said in a statement of the troupe. "It's a free space, where a bunch of freaks can go wild. It starts with the lights and stops with the actual actors. At night, we worked on the music in the empty hall. It was kind of magical."
While the project was expected to wrap following the final live performance, Ring ended up tracking the work offstage with cellist Philipp Timm and violinist Christoph Hartmann, who play in Apparat's live band. "Because it evolved out of a process, and transformed all the time, there's always been a certain freshness to it," Ring said of the sessions.
He continued: "In the studio the material got another twist, became a real piece of music. I took the recordings with me, wherever I was — at home, at a hotel room, in an airplane, and straightened it up. I decided to not go completely crazy about the editing, I didn't want the music to become demanding. Every record tends to become mere work at some point. Euphoria then turns into the feeling that you are standing in the middle of a huge construction site. I actively wanted to avoid this feeling this."
For a taste of the new album, you can stream Apparat's gently polyrhythmic, piano-driven pleaser "A Violent Sky" in the player down below.
