8/10

With his latest full-length 'Lanzarote', Italian producer PSTMRD delivers a record that feels vast, tactile, and fiercely alive. The first offering 'Fullmoon' arrives like a signal from another frequency. Intricate, restless rhythms skitter beneath gleaming layers of synthesis, creating a push-and-pull between precision and warmth. There’s a thrilling tension in how it balances razor-sharp detail with glowing, analogue-toned textures.

The track nods to the cerebral edge of early IDM while embracing the cinematic sweep of vintage electronic pioneers, yet it never feels derivative. Instead, it feels like PSTMRD staking his claim in that lineage, expanding it with his own obsessive attention to texture and atmosphere. It’s immersive, hypnotic, and electrifying all at once.

And if 'Fullmoon' opens the portal, 'Lanzarote' takes you all the way through it. Inspired by the stark, volcanic beauty of the Spanish island, the album unfolds like a sonic expedition as 'Vulcano' simmers with subterranean energy, its low-end pressure building like molten rock beneath the surface. While the sprawling twelve-minute closing title track stretches into widescreen territory, evolving patiently, layering movement upon movement until it feels like a landscape you’re wandering through.

What makes 'Lanzarote' so exhilarating is the sheer craft behind it. PSTMRD’s use of modular synthesis and tactile controllers has an explorative feel. The production, polished by Martino Marini and mastered by Joan Arnau Pàmies, allows the detail to shine without ever flattening the emotional impact.

There’s a confidence here that feels earned. PSTMRD’s roots in heavier musical scenes still pulse beneath the surface, but they’ve been distilled into focus and intensity rather than aggression. With 'Lanzarote', it’s clear: this is electronic music that burns bright and lingers long after the light fades.