Moderat: MORE D4TA | 4ZZZ Brisbane 102.1FM

- Moderat encapsulates everything wonderful about the burgeoning electronic music scene Berlin offers to the world. They’re bold. They’re introspective. They’re brooding, and they’re back from a brief hiatus after their third album in 2016. The time away hasn’t dampened their resolve, the trio still very much have a story to tell.

I’m writing this on an afternoon, people-watching from my office window as the rain slowly descends. It all feels very apt given the tone Moderat have set with MORE D4TA. Moderat don’t make sad music, they make reflective electronic music. Intelligent Dance Music or IDM for those in the know. Not to be a genre snob… I’m about to talk about dubstep in a moment… but you definitely get the sense that with every song you’re supposed to transplant yourself into another place and just think about things. How’re mum and dad? Are the kids OK? You haven’t spoken to your friends in a while. Have you been taking time for yourself too? Moderat for me feels like a therapy session, which is a trite thing to say, but I did. So there!

Moderat’s II was the therapy that helped me through a pretty rough breakup when that happened, and perhaps that’s why I feel this way, but there are similar claims to be made for other contemporaries in this space, Burial probably being the most prominent. His record Untrue ostensibly wrote the playbook on just how sobering electronic music can get and it certainly shook things up enough to completely change what dubstep was. Still amidst all the shudders of change, I also found a place that was very meditative. So too with Willaris.ri K, French 79, and Aphex Twin all of these put me in a very contemplative mode, which is a great thing, one that gets largely overlooked with music under the electronic umbrella: its capacity for gentle moments of reflection.

Moderat have always been great at creating atmosphere in their music and this persists on MORE D4TA. You feel as if you’re in a rainforest in the night with no lights, just surrounded by all of these curious noises. It’s nice to have them back and this new album really scratches an itch if you’ve been hanging out for more from these guys. Actually, a bit of sensory deprivation may be the best way to listen Moderat: lights off (some candles burning would be ok too), headphones on, a nice comfortable chair, with your beverage of choice and then just let it take you somewhere. Wanderlust is of course a German creation too.

- Arthur Henden.