Max Cooper has a Ph.D., a real affinity for Twitter, and a critically acclaimed music career that seemed to come out of nowhere. The UK producer showcased his raw, but expert chops with an electrifying performance at UC Berkeleyโs Sproul Plaza last semester. It was a strong preview of his upcoming material, which is set to debut next week as a full-length album called Human. It will be the culmination of his seven years’ experience in music, during which he released over fifty original mixes, including last yearโs โQuantet.โ Onย Human, Cooper strays from club music and into the ambient genre he is particularly fond of. He also gets quite literal, as most of the tracks on the album can be determined by their titles. The opening track, โWoven Ancestry,โ for example, is exactly the narrative its title connotes: it is a pseudo-score to some fantasy saga film’s quintessential opening monologue, during which the narrator inevitably comments on โthe fabric of time.โ โSupineโ is the only piece that doesnโt conform to this assumption. Its upbeat percussion, synth, and Area 51 noises orchestrate an auditory Mรถbius strip before the entire soundscape dissolves into cognitive resonance. Four tracks later, โEmpyreanโ begins with an arching melodic theme similar to the one at the end of “Supine.โ It evolves from its opening into a sparkly keyboard progression, and right into a night sky spotted with claps and shuffles. It is difficult to tell when one track ends and when the next starts on Human; โApparitions,โ for one, changes gears from melodic to mechanical and then juxtaposes the two styles against each other by layering a stray interval test atop spastic robot sounds. The album also features three songs with guest artists Kathrin deBoer of Bellerucheย and Raphaelle Standell-Preston of BRAIDS, both of whom Cooper worked with on previous projects. โAdrift,” a seven-minute behemothย released last December, is one of the vocal tracks. โMy feet donโt touch the ground,โ deBoer sings organically and jazzily on the tune. The other deBoer offering, โNumb,โ is a bass-driven, less concrete hitter. The third vocal feature, โAutomation,โ allows vocalist Standell-Preston to shine. Along with introducing collaborative singers, Cooper stays true to the album title and explores the psyche on Human. โItโs my attempt to put some concepts common to all humans, into musical form,โ he told A Strangely Isolated Place. One of those concepts, the motif of disconnection, occurs on number “Impacts” where he gets profound with a rhythmic clarity; other life themes are explored on โPotency.โ Finally, on “Awakening,โ Cooperโs assessment of the human condition ceases, leaving the listener in a comfortable limbo. It is a song that cautions fans to emerge from the record slowly. Donโt open your eyes now, says the end of โAwakening.” The light may blind you. Human will be available March 10. But until then, stream the entire album at Pitchfork. Article by Joanna Jiang Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. Δ