Enter Christian Löffler’s world of electronica as he takes you on a melancholic journey through the deep and dark forests around Cologne, one of those vibrant and fine places for electronic music in Germany today.
A Forest. What comes to mind is The Cure's classic song but this is where the similarities seem to stop. However, if you really come closer and look into the trees you might see the true beauty of it. Nature is something not only Christian Löffler, the producer of this album, seems to be fascinated about. Dominik Eulberg is another one of those somewhat crazy ecological techno producers out of Germany.
I did some research and found out there's actually a deep integration with nature in German culture. Just look at the album title/cover and Löffler's label it was released on (Ki in Ki Records is the Japanese word for tree). Yes, it all starts to make sense now.
Opening with the album’s title track it begins and sounds promising. It's a fresh breeze into the landscape somewhere deeply hidden in Cologne. As we're heading into the trees and follow our ears we encounter Pale Skin which almost sounds like a downtempo version of its predecessor.
The fifth and main track is Feelharmonia featuring the catchy vocals of female singer Gry Bagøien from Denmark. Gry used to be in a band with a former drummer of German industrial group Einstürzende Neubauten. No chaos or noise this time, it's the exact opposite. Watch the accompanying video because it perfectly describes the mood visually.
Foggy tracks like Eleven, Ash & Snow and Field further drag you into Löffler's world of deep electronica. With A Hundred Lights the more crispy sounds are further dripping from the leaf ends but then the journey slowly ends when the last beam of light is shining through them on Slowlight...
A Forest is a nice debut for the creative person Löffler is but the album has a very introvert approach. Personally I don't really feel it. I guess I'm lost in that forest, all alone. But if you're a melancholic person and you prefer a hike in the shadows of the trees then this is probably right up your musical alley.
7/10 - Reinier Koolmees
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