By Keith Walsh
Taking place in a fictional New Moscow that was once Manhattan, the ambitious 11 track set from Neon Insect, titled Liberty Flowers, mixes dystopian science fiction with dark electronica. Thematically, the story by Nils Sinatsch is a mix of themes from George Orwell, Philip K. Dick, and The Matrix films. The use of analog hardware synthesizers gives Liberty Flowers an organic sound not heard in purely computer-based productions.
Located in Germany, Sinatsch has created a world of technological totalitarianism that’s darker in tone than Bladerunner. Sonically, melody and harmony are underplayed in favor glitchy, dramatic narratives of futuristic alienation, in a cautionary tale about the dangers of total dominance by science, in a locked down society.
“I’m coldborn/I’m surrounded by metal and rust and dust/I’m a coldborn/I struggle to breathe in, I struggle to breathe in/I’m coldborn.”
From “Coldborn” by Neon Insect
In the world of Liberty Flowers, Soviet style fascism controls every aspect of life, from the birth of lab grown citizens (“Coldborn”) to cyborg sex (“Love, Sex + Robots.”)
“No choice in this/My only bliss/Use me/Abuse me/I’m a machine to fill.”
From “Love Sex + Robots” by Neon Insect
Ultimately, salvation comes from a musical rebellion in the showstopping “There Is Beauty In Noise.”
What Liberty Flowers lacks in harmony and melody, it makes up for in narrative and atmosphere. By design, the album is a provocative, cinematic noise synth production with an emphasis on the symbolism of noise and disharmony. Liberty Flowers is sure to please fans of hard science fiction and industrial electronica.
The unique sound of Liberty Flowers is achieved in part with the use of synths by Bastl Instruments, a company in the Czech Republic, as well as Korg synths and a Behringer EDGE percussion synth. The album is available on Bandcamp and physical formats, and will be released on streamers on August 30.
Neon Insect LinkTree
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‘Liberty Flowers’ On Bandcamp
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Bastl Instruments
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