Listen Down: Amnesia Scanner’s Tearless

Just in time for the collapse of civilization, the Berlin Duo keeps it extra discordant on their new record. 

By Bubba Krishnamurti

In an age of music stars emanating from social media, Amnesia Scanner remains a pleasantly enigmatic artist. Ville Haimala and Martti Kalliala, the Berliner duo behind the project, have maintained a healthy dose of  ‘crypticism’ behind their artistry. Opening with 2014’s AS LIVE, they have since produced a bevy of abstruse singles,  music videos and mixtapes. In an effort to “deconstruct club music”, Amnesia Scanner has pioneered a choleric sound characterized by what seems to be  loads of side-chain compression. Their motif is simultaneously techno and pop littered with discordant melodic structures.  Tearless, according to the duo, is a  “breakup album with the planet.” This breakup, of course, seems perfectly timed. 

That said, Amnesia’s Scanners apocalyptic sentiments are not more of the same pedantic regurgitations.  Though their last record,  Another Life, seemed almost sardonically joyful, Tearless is congruent with the angst and fear surrounding today’s current events. Even at it’s poppiest moments, there remains an underlying tension that is both unsettling and endearing. Tracks like Tearless feat Lalita demonstrate the Amnesia Scanner is willing to seamlessly move between soundscapes. This can be jarring. Tunes like Flat featuring metal act Code Orange are fun and feel like the act could have been on Korn’s ‘Family Values’ tours in the early 00’s. Easily a NIN or Orgy B-Side. If cacophony is your thing, this record is for you. With the way things seem to be going in our world today, you may not have a choice. 

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