APPARAT - A Hum Of Maybe

It happens even to the best of them to lose their own "permanent center of gravity." In fact, it's especially likely to happen to them, given the high standards they've set for themselves. And so comes the stall, a phase of disorientation from which, however, those with real talent always find a way out. Last year it was Ryan Lee West's turn, and this time it's Sascha Ring pulling himself out of the creative mire, trying once again to push the Apparat name to greater heights. Not a random parallel, since both artists have relied mainly on their own skilled craftsmanship and sound design to work through their impasse.

What becomes clear from the very first listen is the lack of a strong idea, a lack of cohesion in how the tracklist unfolds. The usual ingredients are all there: the electronics sparkle and lock the instrumental component into place with millimetric precision, the voice slots in and adapts to the intended atmosphere, moving from the emphatic ambient-pop of "Tilth" - a collaboration with KÁRYYN - to the downtempo/chamber-music cadences of "Enough For Me." It's a directionless progression in which countless ideas surface while reference points disappear, as condensed in the shape-shifting "Lunes."

Among the attempts to chart new directions, the episodes that emerge most clearly are those better anchored to Apparat's past - not surprisingly, the most effective chapters of the bunch. That's the case with "Hum Of Maybe," with the skillful intersection of melody and breakbeat on "A Slow Collision," and with the magnetic "An Echo Skips A Name."

What comes out of it is a transitional album, certainly not to be counted among the German musician's best work, but kept well above par by a brilliant compositional ability - the very thing that has made Ring a cornerstone of the electronic idiom - and by a flawless production. If only we had more "maybes" of this caliber...

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03/03/2026