Sieren - Timelapse (2020)

Having established himself as a core Apollo artist with three fantastic EPs since 2016, Sieren now steps up with a first full length for the label. ‘Timelapse’ is a majestic 13 track trip into this unique artist’s very emotional fusion of post-bass bliss.

Sieren aka Matthias Frick is a master of intricate electronics and bittersweet emotions, of deep atmospherics and compelling rhythms. He has been building a dedicated following for some years now, putting out his debut album on Christian Loffler's Ki Records in 2016. Inspired by a rich history of bass-driven UK sounds, he pairs that with a love of field recording and experimental soundscaping, and now shows he is an ever evolving master of his art on this stunning new record.

Half of the album was sketched out while Sieren stayed in California, and the other half was constructed in other places, or inspired by images he's taken of those places, while on the road over the last two years. It makes use of key bits of gear such as Ableton Live, Juno 106, a Prophet 8 and various guitar pedals and plays out like a movie. Says the artist himself, "In a way the LP is like a time-lapse from 2018 to now and sort of encapsulates all the places I've been and my respective memories of them.”

Cavernous opener 'Left Behind' sets the scene with a grand sense of scale from the gentle pads and heavenly vocals that shimmer way up top. The title track then suspends you in more ethereal pads, with a skeletal rhythm skating down low, and that mix of bottomless bass but celestial melodies continues through 'Stralsund,' gorgeous ambient interlude 'Pacific High' and 'Phoenix'.

'In Dreams' is a collaboration with Veronica Maximova that sends shivers down your spine as the chords rise up and down the scale to majestic effect. This high class, deftly designed style defines the second half of the album, too, with 'Silverlake' offering a dreamy escape before ‘Night Bus' picks up the pace with hyper-speed drum kicks overlaid with dewy droplets, haunting late night pads and streams of neon. This most cathartic and coherent of journeys closes with the lush and rippling synths of 'Decension', which is a melancholic masterpiece.

‘Timelapse’ is an evocative and emotional journey through after hours metropolitan conurbations and on to imagined utopias from your most enjoyable day dreams.