While melodic techno’s reign might seem the blandest it has ever been due to a certain lack of originality, there are still unexplored corners that only the bold dare to dream of, and Max von Sternberg’s latest two-track adventure on New Tab Music, ‘A Bit Of You’, certainly treads over uncharted territory.
Breaking free from a pack that tends to imagine a, now common, future where AI, robots, and the human experience interlock in a sea of trite visuals over gargantuan LED panels, ‘A Bit Of You’ projects thumping kicks that meander through the cold night when a vocoded vocal message grabs a hold of us and thrusts us into a narcotic haze. Harrowingly alluring, the transmissions resume cutting through sparse melodic embers and ultraviolent stabs, reveling in palpable tension before exposing us to a cinematic third act where heavy machinery designed to evoke a rush of techno-laced bliss starts to contort. In a most captivating act of sonic wizardry, von Sternberg halts the runaway tram on its tracks, leashing a mesmerizing dream-like sequence where ‘A Bit Of You’ is allowed to unfurl in all its glory, resuming in an ultimate barrage to our over-stimulated senses.
Striding in a more straightforward manner, von Sternberg’s ‘Smart Wave’ finds the Berlin-based producer knee-deep in restless pulses and resonating stabs as he makes his way across heavy-handed drumming and harshly gated melodic explosions. Tantalizing, ‘Smart Wave’ bids its own time in a gravity-defying tightrope act where patience is rewarded with a truly heady and memorable finale that feels close to rapture.
Brave, yet fragilely intimate, Max von Sternberg’s ‘A Bit Of You’ is a most inspirational delivery that creatively challenges a seemingly stale state of affairs for the genre, while standing out from the crowd, shying away from the tiring endless drops and senseless trigger-happy machine guns through his ever-imaginative lens.
Max von Sternberg’s ‘A Bit Of You’ is out now via New Tab Music. Purchase your copy of the record here.
