It has been six years in the making, and today Parov Stelar unveils his long-awaited new album ‘Artifact’. His influential fusion of jazz, swing and electronica has attracted hundreds of millions of streams and taken him from Coachella to Glastonbury, yet the audio-visual experience ‘Artifact’ is his most ambitious project to date. The album is released alongside a video for its focus track ‘Falling In Time’. Listen HERE.
‘Artifact’ is the result of Parov Stelar using a small idea to create an entire universe. Its concept is the idea of artifacts, the little traces that everyone leaves along their life’s journey: memories, fragments, fleeting thoughts, each of which operate within their own reality and timeframe. It plays upon parallel worlds, alternate dimensions, past lives and afterlives. It’s like a dream: in the moment it seems real, but within seconds of awakening all that remains is its feeling.
It’s therefore appropriate that the musician approached the project without a structured plan or a deadline. Yet despite relying on instinct over analysis, the electronic foundation that has shaped his work since the very beginning is still part of the framework. But more than ever, it is supplemented, broken up, and questioned. The tracks range between sweeping, timeless pop and electronic concepts, late-romantic grandeur, and cinematic power.
It’s also a record in which his previous classical music influences are more dominant than ever before, this time created in collaboration with a 35-piece orchestra. That aspect is prevalent in the focus track ‘Falling In Time’, which best represents the album’s central motif: the fleeting impermanence of time. Opulent strings, ethereal vocals, and gentle electronica meet a touch of nostalgic ‘80s throwback vibes, blending into a track that oscillates between urgency and detachment.
In addition, Parov Stelar recently launched his autobiography ‘Trip’ at a special event in Vienna. It tells of his journey into the world of music: the fears and the doubts, the triumphs and the euphoria, the excess and the madness. Above all, it’s the story of a man who battled his dark side and ultimately found his way back to the light. An English-language version will also be released in the near future.
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