Styrofoam - We Can Never Go Home (2018)

Sound In Silence is proud to welcome Styrofoam to its family, presenting his long-awaited new album We Can Never Go Home.

Styrofoam is the solo project of electronica producer Arne Van Petegem, based in Antwerp, Belgium. For about two decades he has released several sublime albums and EPs on labels such as Morr Music, Nettwerk and Rocket Racer, bringing together influences as diverse as electronic pop, idm, shoegaze, indie rock and hip hop. Styrofoam is considered one of the most acclaimed indietronica composers and has collaborated with the production team Wax Ltd., artists such as The Go Find, Fat Jon, Alias and Josh Rouse and members of The Notwist, Lali Puna, Death Cab For Cutie, The Postal Service, American Analog Set and Jimmy Eat World, among others. He has played live across Europe, North America and Japan and has toured with Death Cab For Cutie, Jimmy Eat World, The Notwist, Lali Puna and Opiate. In the past he has also recorded under the moniker of Tin Foil Star, performed as a touring member of The Notwist and remixed tracks for Múm, Giardini Di Mirò, Blonde Redhead and many others.

We Can Never Go Home is Styrofoam’s first full-length in over eight years, as well as his first ever all-instrumental album. It features eight new compositions all written, recorded and produced by Arne at his Silent Face studio during the early months of 2018 as the soundtrack to an ever more confused and confusing world. Any vocal elements present on his previous albums have been entirely pushed away and Styrofoam pays all of attention to the details of mixing his delicate melodies and complex rhythm programming. Styrofoam’s intelligent arrangement blends dreamy warm pads, shimmering synths, deep bass lines, blissful layers of delayed guitars, playful beats, glitchy clicks and electronic bleeps and bloops, resulting in his long-awaited return being one of his most accomplished efforts to date.
Carefully mastered by George Mastrokostas (aka Absent Without Leave), We Can Never Go Home is an impressive album of melodic instrumental electronica, highly recommended for devotees of Ulrich Schnauss, B. Fleischmann, Manual, Port-Royal and Dntel.