Stefan Erbe – Genesys 23

Description

1. to distant seas – 04:14
2. machines starting machines – 05:04
3. orbit – 05:46
4. lifeforming – 07:16
5. lost cargo – 03:14
6. doubtful – 04:23
7. big hall – 05:22
8. the rain on a green base – 04:08
9. plantae synthetica – 03:56
10. LXM 404 – 06:25
11. all the stars (review) – 03:20
12. the course of origin – 07:02
13. it wants to live – 05:42
14. critical state – 05:14
15. sense of life – 06:07

GENESYS23 CDs comes along with extended Redeem Codes for Bandcamp. These are included in all physical CDs. So all customers get the 2 Bonus Versions and also the music only version
if they downloaded it.

Stefan Erbe, musician and busy medialist has always been committed to not being musically fixed. His 34 albums so far have mostly followed the principle of change, of finding new themes and concepts. Even if he has always remained true to his distinctive style, his music has accompanied a constant change and even almost 30 years after his first release, this approach is his proven way to inspire his fans and listeners.
So there is no question that “GENESYS 23” as the current release, also brings some innovations and opens another “Something-New”-Chapter. Erbe’s narrative concept is possibly a novelty in the circle of the synthetically generated music genre and was or is probably rarely to be found (or to have been found) in this form.
Perhaps Erbe has even created another milestone with it, because “GENESYS 23” has everything a perfect album needs. It contains an exciting theme, framed by 15 tracks that are catchy and very diversely produced. His music possesses those pioneer-based traditional elements of the current era and manages to straddle the line between commercial synth-pop numbers, contemporary traditional electronics and cinematic ambient.

Erbe’s sound has stood for a modern form of patterns of earlier sequencer compositions for many years, blending it into his signature blend of beats, pads and elemental melodicism. But despite the different styles, all the pieces come together to form a whole, because above it all is the story that Erbe tells in the form of an “Electronical”. The futuresque imaginary journey of the android protagonist GENE is not entirely new, however. Already in 2017 Erbe had initiated the theme on the album “GENESYS” and provided a first idea basis. Its current continuation is thereby however clearly more complex and is available to the album consumers in several versions at once.
The term “Electronical’s” is in this context his completely new designation. It exactly captures themeaning of the album’s narrative form. The narrative vocal bridges and linguistic additions are well-dosed and very selectively support the intention of the story. However, the album still leaves a lot of room for your own imaginary head cinema, as well as conclusions, hidden messages and also leaves open the final question of how GENE will decide. Ultimately, the question remains, how will we use artificial intelligence currently and in the future.

Erbe’s idea of using AI systems in the production itself was of course no coincidence. Thus, both musical and visual tools have been used, which can be heard on the album, as well as will be seen at the concerts. Nevertheless, the music, stands above the many levels of expression of this story. The 15 pieces internalize with an extraordinary acoustic commonality their connection. It is in particular the many sound details, the sound selection and recurring compositional elements that run through the entire album as a common thread. In addition to an English and German language version, Erbe of course also releases a music-only variant, which serves as the main release. The two additional language versions serve as the basis for his concerts and are available as 30 (2×15 German & 2x 15 English) additional bonus tracks.
However, the story about GENE is not yet told with the current release, because the continuation of the theme is already in the works. It will find its continuation in the form of further albums and concerts in 2023. But it is not yet quite sure which chapters will be written and when and where the journey will end. What is certain is that Erbe will change the music, add elements and create different versions.