Again

About

Each album from Oneohtrix Point Never, the project of songwriter and producer Daniel Lopatin, is informed by an open-ended theme or prompt. This allows each release to feel tied to some general philosophy while still being wholly unique. On 2015’s <i>Garden of Delete</i>, he made songs built around made-up scrapped vocals from pop stars; 2018’s <i>Age Of</i> pictured a world gone insane, with nothing left but artificial intelligence to determine what cultural touchstones were deemed worth keeping. On his 2023 album <i>Again</i>, the artist once again concocts a daring concept, this time imagining the project as a conversation between his current and former selve. On the album he ask, “What’s worth keeping? What do we throw away?” Among the detritus that inherently comes alongside radical technological development, what will outlast us? Lopatin recruited a number of collaborators for the project, including Robert Ame, Lee Ranaldo, Jim O’Rourke, Xiu Xiu, and Lovesliescrushing. While they’re mostly disparate in spirit, each artist has at times toyed with the interplay between electric and acoustic clashe, which Lopatin highlights on <i>Again</i>. Gorgeously arranged string suites come crashing against grating synths on the title track; massive electronic drums launch Lopatin’s voice towards the heavens on “Krumville.” Acoustic guitar strums get similarly propelled on “Memories of Music.” .

via Apple Music

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