Iconic German producer Stimming takes flight with his new album Friedrich out last April 25th via his own label Stimming Recordings.
A masterful blend of sonic experimentation and storytelling, ‘Friedrich’ – the second chapter in Stimming’s trilogy – dives deep into life’s ordinary yet profound moments. Designed to ignite the dance floor while offering a rich, introspective home-listening journey, it showcases the producer’s unparalleled artistry.
Stimming’s sound world has always been known for its high-level, cerebral architecture. The artist takes electronic music to a compositional extreme where every sound is imbued with meaning and nothing is left unthought of. “For every track I do, I’m looking for the organic emotion within the computational machinery,” he says. The emotion is present on every track of Friedrich, not least because of the collaborations with jazz vocalist/spoken word artist Salomea and singer-songwriter Dominique Fricot on three tracks. “Vocals are such a strong additional level. They are directly connected to what you feel,” adds Stimming.
As a collection of experiences from the last three years, Friedrich is incredibly personal. It speaks of past relationships, parenthood, and illness. “The music is how I express these very specific emotional states brought about by these different circumstances that I can’t put into words.” Throughout Friedrich, it’s this carving out of a new path that characterizes Stimming’s approach. While the musician has always experimented with instruments and gear – he is, after all, one of the most respected reviewers of electronic music tools – it’s the way he layers and juxtaposes them, and the space he creates between sounds, that feels markedly different.
Among the many grand creatures of the animal kingdom, it’s not every day that the humble pigeon gets noticed – and even less frequently does it receive a homage. But in Friedrich, the ubiquitous, nearly invisible bird is prominently featured on the album cover and in the videos, celebrated for its ordinariness. “For me, the pigeon is the symbol of these normal life moments that are kind of small, but if you look at them with attention, you find things that are incredibly interesting.” The pigeon is a recurring symbol in Stimming’s work, from his famed 2013 track Taube auf dem Dach (“Pigeon on the Roof”) to the cover of his previous album Ludwig, which also features a track named after it. What the pigeon represents – a special attention to the minute – is central to Stimming’s approach to sound. “I’m not competing with pop that’s shiny and open; my music is about the details.” Friedrich continues to explore these details, both sonic and existential, but in this exploration, Stimming uncovers more light than usual. “After 15 years of doing this full-time, I’ve come to a strange moment where I feel like I finally know what I’m doing, and it’s just fun,” says the artist. With instincts sharper than ever before, Stimming navigates his world of hardware and machinery with a newfound lightness. “A pigeon can fly – isn’t that beautiful?”
Stimming: Instagram // Soundcloud