Ulrich Schnauss - No Further Ahead Than Tomorrow

The final chapter of one of electronic music's most quietly essential catalogs, restored to exactly what it was always meant to be. Following the return of his recording rights, respected German electronic composer Ulrich Schnauss has remastered his entire back catalog on his own Scripted Realities label, and No Further Ahead Than Tomorrow is the fifth and last of those reissues, the most extensively reworked of them all.

Originally released in 2016 under the title No Further Ahead Than Today, the album has been remixed, partially re-recorded, and remastered throughout, emerging with a new name that reflects the fundamental shift in how it now sounds. As Schnauss puts it, it now sounds the way he had always intended, and the difference is audible immediately. Even by his own standards, this is a big-sounding album, warm and life-affirming and sprawling in the best possible sense.

Across ten tracks the album moves through the full range of Schnauss' distinctive sonic world. "Melts Into Air" and "Love Grows Out of Thin Air" open with positive, downtempo beauty. "The Magic In You" builds into a wall-of-sound shuffle with irresistible forward momentum. "New Day Starts At Dawn" and "Negative Sunrise" deliver undulating ambient techno bliss, the latter featuring Steve Reich-style melodic refrains and Pat Metheny-esque guitar lines weaving through chiming melodies and grandiose synthesizer motifs. "Water Under the Bridge" moves from ambient stillness into something approaching a sublime symphony before dissolving back into calm. "Illusory Sun" closes the album with ancient and modern harmonies playing off each other in a quietly ecstatic final statement.

Artwork has been reimagined and refreshed by Schnauss's longtime AV collaborator Nat Urazmetova. Essential for fans of Brian Eno, Jon Hopkins, and Tycho.