Kreidler - Schemes

Nine albums into a remarkable career, the Berlin and Düsseldorf outfit Kreidler continue to find new space to explore. Schemes, their latest for Bureau B, is their most ambient and atmospheric record yet, a deliberate step into a more open and unhurried world without ever losing the signature rhythmic groove that has defined their sound for three decades. Here the groove is simply more buoyant, less insistent, swinging gently rather than driving forward.

The album is also distinguished by a more pronounced use of field recordings and natural sound, giving the whole record a grounded, outdoor quality that breathes through every track. The songs move like beads on a string, each one distinct yet connected, swinging in a warm breeze and catching the light from different angles. Opener "Beads" arrives on a funky, stabby synth wrapped in hazy ambivalence. "Klove Twin" drifts in on tiny bells before settling into a mid-tempo shuffle. "Snowflakes" layers intertwining synth melodies into something that feels like summer dancing. "Marble Upset" plays with memory and recollection, a slowed-down rave of faint images and glimpses. "Via de me" is nocturnal city life rendered as ambient pop, too alive for sleep.

The album's emotional peak is "Fenix," built around a noisy urban field recording over which old friend and Buenos Aires vocalist Leo Garcia, in Berlin for a concert, improvised a euphoric vocal melody on the spot. It is a protest song of an unusual and deeply moving kind. Closing track "Tar" lets cicadas carry the night home, the smell of warm asphalt giving way to gentle hills and an open question about what it takes to live peacefully together.

Cover artwork by Luzie Meyer mirrors the album's spirit perfectly: a dialogue on a string, ideas in conversation, disputes resolved with grace.