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“There is no one true self. With every choice you make, your story changes. Between the potential and the actual, there exist an infinite number of variations on who you have been. The mysterious tale of The Twin, the second full-length from Sound of Ceres, exists in myriad permutations, too: a new album, a mesmerizing live show, videos, an Alastair Reynolds short story… and others in-between. Sound of Ceres’ creative cohort of authors, composers, and illusionists traveled from a snowy Alpine retreat to the outer limits of deep space to bring you The Twin. While their 2016 debut Nostalgia for Infinity responded to the hugeness of time and space, now Sound of Ceres explore the strangeness of being just one human outcome amidst an infinitude of possibilities. The adventure begins with one of the great works of 20th century German literature, The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. As Ryan Hover read the tale of Hans Castorp (named for one of the twins of Gemini), whose life as a shipbuilder gets sidetracked by a visit to a rest home in the Swiss Alps, new chords, melodies, and lyrical ideas seized his imagination. Elements from the novel – the snow and isolation of the mountains, echoes of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, a fixation with the number seven – took on a new form as the fantastic universe of The Twin took shape. Karen Hover and Ryan gave voice to early versions of the songs, exploring the sound of words even as they teased out lyrical ideas. Rough sketches were dispatched to band mates Derrick Bozich, Jacob Graham, and Ben Phelan, and then Ryan fashioned their instrumental contributions into new arrangements. But just as Hans in The Magic Mountain undergoes a great transformation as from the flatlands through the narrow gauge to the Alps, The Twin underwent great changes as it began to travel – in this case, to Iceland. Ryan, Karen, and Jacob arrived at the Reykjavik studio of producer Alex Somers (Sigur Rós, Julianna Barwick) with the original mixes of what seemed like more-or-less finished songs. And then they went through a different door. Guitars and harpsichords gave way to more analog synthesizers and melodic percussion. As the music’s dynamic range grew wider, timbres chilled, and more layers of vocals were woven into the background, a new twin of The Twin emerged. The Twin opens with the hypnotic “Gemini Scenic,” analog keyboards and pulsating drums lifting up Karen’s hazy, layered vocals; the intensity ebbs and flows, propelling the listener deeper into the album’s mysterious sonic universe. “Mercury’s Moods” clicks and hisses like some steam-powered alien machine, while “The Twin” underpins harp glissandi and Ryan’s voice with crisp, dry snare hits. Hints of ’60s exotica, ’70s AM radio, and even symphonic grandeur weave through layers of rippling synths and shifting rhythms. Ideas drawn from the past and future fold together, creating a sound that exists outside any particular time or trend. In concert, The Twin evolves and changes nightly; no two versions of this immersive audio-visual experience are alike. Lasers and fiber optics pierce the darkness and smoke, creating a web of ever-changing constellations. Stars, circles, and double-helixes dance around the band, bouncing off reflective costumes and outstretched hands. Responding fluidly to each unique environment where they perform, Sound of Ceres transport the audience into the heart of the great cosmos via a mystifying display of lights and effects, coupled with hypnotizing sound. Just as the various members of Sound of Ceres combine ideas and energies to fashion their magical world, everything they create together – words and music, video, live performance art – interlocks to tell the whole story. And when all the elements align, The Twin unlocks a universe of endless possibilities and infinite outcomes. You’ll never experience it the same way twice.”

Breathers challenge perceptions of synth-pop on their new album Designed to Break. Each song is a refreshingly honest dive into the modern human psyche balanced with vibrant synth lines that capture the imagination and drip like dew into our parched subconscious. Despite the pop moniker, Breathers defy categorization, drawing inspiration from the Sophisti-pop movement and the cryptic poetry of Steely Dan. Even the album title is multi-faceted, referencing both the analog gear that Breathers use to craft their sound and the disposable nature of modern technology.

Over the past few years, Breathers have laid the groundwork for Designed to Break with a series of insightful tracks featuring T. Lee Gunselman and Jake Thomson on synths and vocals, with Mike Netland providing live drums and sequencing. The result is a danceable mix of organic and synthetic sounds that warp traditional song structures into something subversive yet enticing. Throughout this album, lead singer and lyricist Gunselman offers thoughtful observations on isolation and anxiety, focusing on the corresponding weaknesses and strengths of the human spirit, and the importance of listening to oneself apart from the cacophony of an increasingly commercialized world. Each topic is couched in a comforting sensitivity which plays off the spacious chords and delicate melodies of Designed to Break.

Both sunny and cerebral, there’s an intangible generosity in the way Gunselman expounds on society and culture while the band weave jazz-influenced chords into Mediterranean hues. On Designed to Break, Breathers have jettisoned everything that doesn’t shimmer and fused what remains into a rejuvenating cosmic polyphony. Never has a synth record felt so intrinsically human. Designed to Break is out 9/12 on LP/Digital via Irrelevant Music.

“Robert Peter Schneider (born March 9, 1971) is an American pop musician, music producer and mathematician. He is the lead singer / songwriter / guitarist / producer of The Apples in Stereo and has produced albums by Neutral Milk Hotel, The Olivia Tremor Control and a number of other psychedelic and indie rock bands. Schneider co-founded The Elephant 6 Recording Company in 1991.”

There’s a muted inertia to Mannequin Lover’s new track which pressurizes the song with dark, brooding energy. Matthew DeLoach’s vocals waft around the sequenced tones and break up the expansive song into neat sectors of danceable magic. Overall, it exposes a more focused side to his surreal acid pop while invoking diverse influences; everything from the early Berlin scene to ’90s French house to DFA contemporaries Shit Robot. “Beat It with Chain” might not break new ground in the world of dance music, but it’s a clever fusion of sounds and evidence that DeLoach’s style continues to evolve in new directions. Mannequin Lover has been his solo project for over three years now and he continues to display a wide variety of inspiration, even though his overall output has been relatively sparse. Listening here, it’s not hard to see how DeLoach made the jump from pop to house, considering the razor-sharp organization behind all his tracks. But compared to the dreamy bedroom jams he was writing just a few years ago, “Beat It with Chain” is a powerful musical statement that begs to be turned up. –Immersive Atlanta