Herrmann Kristoffersen - Herrmann Kristoffersen (2020)

The fourth album release from Bytes and the first release for 2020 from the offshoot of Ransom Note Records is from Herrmann Kristoffersen, the joyous union of the German photographer and musician Daniel Herrmann and the Danish singer-songwriter and producer Kristina Kristoffersen.

Over a long winter the couple found comfort in front of the crackling fire in the living room of their mountain home in Taunus Woods, just outside Frankfurt. The sounds that unfolded there would become their debut album, a stunning collection of gorgeous, meditative ambience and celestial techno.

Both have made music under their own steam, Daniel as Flug 8, among other aliases, and Kristina, a former composer for Nintendo, as Mono Girl. Their previous collaborations had involved Kristina’s voice and Daniel’s music, but this time they left all that behind to explore the potential in long, meditative soundscapes. Over time, by listening and living in the loops they created, the music burst into life; grounding and calming without being typical meditation music, but having that essence even with a beat.

“Because we had no expectations to what the sound should be our open minds for music styles and different nationalities played a role in the subconsciousness while playing,” explains Kristina. “What happened was a very harmonic experience and a new symbiosis between us.”

That feeling is transferred into the artwork. The couple went into their garden, with Kristina holding a laser and Daniel taking photos of the plants she chose to pick out. The images were layered in digital collages, with the final picture incorporated into the Bytes house-style by the designer Graeme Swinton.