Aparde is the project of Berlin based composer and musician Paul Schröder. He has announced the release of a new album called Alliance which will be out on May 19th via Ki Records. According to the press release, Aparde’s new album, Alliance sees the German musician retreat from his recent experimentations with avant-gard pop music back into the world of deep, and oftentimes dark, electronica. For his previous album, Hands Rest, Aparde ventured outside Berlin’s club scene through the use of his voice, which gave his music a softer and more intimate edge. Alliance is no less intimate, except this time the musician’s vulnerability seeps through the cracks rather than taking center stage.
As impressive sonically as it is technically, Aparde used a mixture of electronic sounds, analogue equipment and his own voice either as a sound element or lyrical component to explore this duality of sound. “This album was about focusing on something that calmed me down and brought me away from reality,” says Aparde. When the musician says ‘away from reality’, he doesn’t mean into dreamy, ethereal soundscapes, but rather a deep dive into dystopian atmospheres of drone sounds and chewed-up drum machines. Alliance’s second track, Allies has a dire beginning and one might even be tempted in skipping it if it weren’t for Aparde’s hushed voice shining through the shadows, melancholic yes, but also warm. Despite the album’s focus on electronic gear the music isn’t exactly dance-able, tracks have a ruminative pace, brooding even, “I wanted to make the tracks with
more breathing space between the atmosphere and silence. There are fewer elements but more impact, I think,” says Aparde.
Check the new track called “Allies“.