Nickie Harte Kelly
Riverside frontman and Lunatic Soul multi-instrumentalist returns with another dark ambient electronica release. Here he explores the fear and anxiety of our obsession with AI, and whether it is ultimately good or evil. I say, like any technology, it depends upon whose hands it’s in, and how it is used. Obviously keyboard heavy, Mateusz Owczarek lends his very human hands by providing both searing and delicate work on electric guitar.
Favorite track: I LOVE TO CHAT WITH YOU.
Deb McKay
AFR AI D showcases Duda's love and understanding of electronica, and ability to evoke emotions with sounds. Great guest guitarist, too!
Favorite track: I LOVE TO CHAT WITH YOU.
I love coming up with different music stories. I love creating different music worlds. Preferably, with their own style and personality.
Those different music worlds are like planets, each with a different ecosystem, each with different rules. Thanks to that variety, I can visit them in whatever order, whenever I need to. And let them go on and thrive.
One of those planets is called Riverside. Another one - Lunatic Soul. And then there’s the third planet, which I have been visiting most often in this decade. I haven’t given it any particular name because here is where I wanted to be myself from years ago. That kid who, with his eyes closed and a smile on his face, listened on and on to instrumental stories told by such artists as Vangelis, Tangerine Dream or Mike Oldfield.
The inspiration for the new story is the currently prevalent fear of artificial intelligence gradually appearing in our lives, which spread in the media in 2023 and manifested itself with recurring questions, “Will artificial intelligence take over our jobs?”, “Will artificial intelligence eventually take control over us?”
Personally, I am sceptical of the Cassandrian visions, which is reflected in the title “Why So Serious, Cassandra?” But reading all those articles and listening to all kinds of podcasts made me realise that it’s a great idea for an album. Especially an album which would fit into a music world connected with… electronica.
Luckily, I had already managed to create a world like that a few years ago.
The basic premise of the electronic project called Mariusz Duda is that I play mostly electronic instruments here. Another one is a specific music minimalism which gives space for individual interpretation.
On the new album, “AFR AI D”, the minimalism (known for example from the pandemic trilogy) has been replaced with slightly more intricate layers, due to the use of different kinds of processed voices and distorted vocal samples, which obviously symbolise the AI, and electric guitars, which in this case represent the human factor.
As it is an album about fear, I wanted the music to have an undercurrent of anxiety. However, I didn’t want it to turn into a celebration of fear and anxiety (even if this is what might be inferred from the graphic design of the album). The main message of the record is encoded in the title of the first track: taming our nightmares.
The album begins with dark vocalisations reflecting our fears. It ends with delicate guitar sounds, which symbolise our success at taming those fears. The taming process is also symbolised by all the melodic fragments in each composition. Finally, we achieve silence and comfort.
Everyone is afraid of something. Especially in these hard and uncertain times. Everyone struggles with their demons. With their fears. We probably won’t get rid of them. But we can learn to live with them. We can distance ourselves from them. We can also make them stop dominating our lives.
This is what “AFR AI D” is mostly about. About taming our nightmares.
MD
credits
released November 17, 2023
Most of the material for the new album was composed at home but, as usual, I asked Magda and Robert Srzedniccy from Serakos Studio to help me mix it. Robert Szydło took care of mastering and the incredibly talented Mateusz Owczarek played the guitar. Graphic design was taken care of Hajo Müller, the German artist who has been working with me on all the releases of my electronic project.
Recordings took place in May and June 2023, in between intensive Riverside touring.
Hi. Perhaps you've heard me in Riverside, maybe you know me from Lunatic Soul. Here, in this place, I'd like to create a completely different music world, connected mainly with electronic music and, occasionally, with... songs :) Welcome!
I absolutely LOVE Dark Matter and think it is one of PT's best early tracks that holds up to even their best work in the early 2000s, and this particular live performance is sublime! kilimajaro
Dig this experimental electronic opus created entirely by 6-year-old Leo Lackritz, who is donating all sales to a music education charity. Bandcamp New & Notable Aug 31, 2023