Aphex Twin // Syro
Thirteen years after the release of Aphex Twin’s last album, Drukqs, Richard D James has returned with his much awaited album, Syro.
Thirteen years after the release of Aphex Twin’s last album, Drukqs, Richard D James has returned with his much awaited album, Syro. After reinventing the musical paradigms of the 90s and early 00s, it was inevitable that the release would cause a flurry of excitement in the world of music. The only fault I would say I have with the album is that because of how music has evolved since 2001, it doesn't seem to have the same revolutionary effect that the previous releases had. Despite this, the album itself is brilliant and certainly lives up to the classic Aphex Twin style of the 90s, as well as acting as a breath of fresh air among the commercial music dominating at the moment. Richard D James’ style of IDM is utterly engaging and you find yourself entirely engrossed for the whole 64 minutes and 38 seconds, almost as if no time has passed at all. The songs don’t seem to hold on to one specific tempo or style and is instead erratic and constantly changing and evolving which means it never becomes boring. This isn't to say that track by track the album doesn't flow as the randomness of each different song is what links them together into what sounds like a constantly moving and evolving organism. One of the most stand out tracks because of its complete difference to the others is ‘aisatsana [102]’, the last song on the album. It steps away from the computer based production of the songs and instead is completely played on piano, which I feel acts as a gradual release back into the real world after the last 59 minutes of mind and genre bending sound. When listening to Syro, don’t expect to hear a reinvention of music of the same scale as former albums, however, you can still expect to experience a unique style of sound that is nostalgic but still fresh and exciting.
Thirteen years after the release of Aphex Twin’s last album, Drukqs, Richard D James has returned with his much awaited album, Syro. After reinventing the musical paradigms of the 90s and early 00s, it was inevitable that the release would cause a flurry of excitement in the world of music. The only fault I would say I have with the album is that because of how music has evolved since 2001, it doesn't seem to have the same revolutionary effect that the previous releases had. Despite this, the album itself is brilliant and certainly lives up to the classic Aphex Twin style of the 90s, as well as acting as a breath of fresh air among the commercial music dominating at the moment. Richard D James’ style of IDM is utterly engaging and you find yourself entirely engrossed for the whole 64 minutes and 38 seconds, almost as if no time has passed at all. The songs don’t seem to hold on to one specific tempo or style and is instead erratic and constantly changing and evolving which means it never becomes boring. This isn't to say that track by track the album doesn't flow as the randomness of each different song is what links them together into what sounds like a constantly moving and evolving organism. One of the most stand out tracks because of its complete difference to the others is ‘aisatsana [102]’, the last song on the album. It steps away from the computer based production of the songs and instead is completely played on piano, which I feel acts as a gradual release back into the real world after the last 59 minutes of mind and genre bending sound. When listening to Syro, don’t expect to hear a reinvention of music of the same scale as former albums, however, you can still expect to experience a unique style of sound that is nostalgic but still fresh and exciting.
