Andrew Bayer is an American DJ / producer from Washington DC. He is known for his unique progressive house productions on Anjunadeep and Anjunabeats.  If you haven’t yet heard of him, this would be one good reason to take notice.

Famous for his flirtatious experiments with Intelligent Dance Music,  he’s probably one of the most concentrated form of genius I’ve ever come across in my short span of living. And on this album, he really pushes the envelope with ingenuity in music making. It’s such a far cry from what we’re used to hearing from him usually, it’s left his critics and fan base stunned with amazement.  This is what his thoughts were about the album:

“I try to be as diverse as possible. This is mainly an exercise as a musician, but also a record producer as well.“

Echoing label bosses’ Above and Beyond’s fascination with emotionally driven music, it’s got Andrew Bayer’s more personal, vulnerable touch to it. Above & Beyond’s Tony McGuinnes has this to say:

“When I first heard Andrew’s new album I thought “wow, this is different” – he’s certainly not resting on his laurels in any way. And then I listened to it some more and pretty soon it was all I was listening to. On repeat. For hours. It’s the best album I’ve heard in a long time and I’m looking forward to it coming out so I can talk to people about it.“”Gaff’s Eulogy” is, as the name suggests, inspired by Bladerunner. Gaff was the guy who made the origami unicorn that graces the album cover and, at the end of the movie, tells Deckard “You’ve done a man’s job, sir”. And so it is with Andrew. Bravo. Tx”

The show opens with the aptly titled Opening Act,  and from then on,  progressively takes you on a voyage laden with emotional crescendos and diminuendos, triumphant electronic peaks and sometimes, humble melodic bridges.  He makes you explore your emotional spectrum by skilfully managing to find a way to touch each and every receptacle a human soul probably has.

Throughout the album, a sense of seamless euphoria finds a way to creep up and take deep hold of you as your ears tend to bear witness to what most can only describe as aural ecstasy.  Especially with tracks like Doomsday, some of his productions have the grittiness of glitch-hop over an air of powerfully mellow sound-scaping.  Masterpieces such as Souls Cry  And Your Love have a wonderfully ambient vibe, with reflective chord progressions, hints of glitch and a trip-hop type beat.

What really launches you deeper on your sojourn of emotion are the collaborations with female vocalists Ane Brun, Deb Talan and Alison May. The transition from Lose Sight to You Are can be perceived as a trip within themselves. Both are rich with their own blends of acoustic instrumentation with bubbling synths, layered with the unique angelic vocal samples from Ane Brun and Deb Talan over an offtime beat. Both perfectly summery and unbelievably dream like in sound.

It also has profoundly deep and pensive instrumental compositions like And This Will Happen Again and A Brief Interlude.  Towards the later half, Andrew makes you explore the fringes of despair with Gaffs Eulogy with utter solemnity.

All in all, Andrew Bayer has very evidently proven that he’s one of the remaining few who actually regard the gravity of artistic integrity in music making within the electronic industry. The remaining few that truly believe that if you compose something, it HAS to provoke thought, invoke emotion and actually MOVE you.  He has delivered far beyond the anticipation he built up with previews and guest mixes on Above and Beyond’s Group Therapy Radio show and other radio shows around the world.

For those of you who’ve lost hope in electronica, this album will give you reason to hold on.  For those of you who want to explore alternative forms of the genre, this album’s a great place to start.  For those of you who prefer  music to take you on a journey, this album’s your ride.

Get it here from the Anjunabeats Store.

Get it here from beatport.