STEFAN BETKE, the legendary vinyl masterer, deep electronic dub explorer and all-round sonic wizard who records as Pole, has dropped another fine piece of spacious, textural electronica ahead of his new album, Fading, next month.
“Nebelkrähe”, which you can hear below, fashions some of those Pole trademarks into new and alluring shapes: the texture, the deep chasms of grain-flecked space, the dark dub drops. It’s like a web across a glacial crevasse; a structure with absolute cohesion and integrity, but one which allows for an absolute falling away waay down in the space between. It manages to caress in the eeriest way.
It’s sure to be one of many highlights of Fading, which is out on Mute on November 6th.
Stefan returned to Mute for the remastered reissue of his groundbreaking trilogy, 1, 2 and 3 earlier this year – bring these navy, scarlet and yellow lovelies, masterclasses in electronic dub, into your life if you can.
“’Nebelkrähe’ is really one of my favourites because it is so heavy. but has so many details in the background,” says Stefan. “It also probably has the most direct connection to that trilogy.”
As with every Pole release, Fading is an addition to a schemata; it builds from and acknowledges the ouevre, while continually refashioning the sonc palette.
“In order to stay in this kind of vertical development, the ideas from 1, 2, 3 up to now are connected,” Stefan explains.
And a perspective on one’s own story, one’s history, runs through the new album. “[It] was mostly inspired by the idea of memory loss,” he says.
“My mum had dementia and I saw her losing all the memory that she had accumulated over her 91 long years.
“You can hear some little pops and glitches in the background of this recording, which is a direct reference to the trilogy; but you hear it relatively quietly in the background.
“This is a little bit of a sign from me, as my history is fading away slowly too.”
Watch for our review of Fading in the week of release.
Pole’s Fading will be released on digital, CD, limited Aztec gold and black vinyl formats by Mute on November 6th. Lovers of deep and fine electronic textures, place your order here.
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