The Future is what Pavel Khvaleev does … till maybe he doesn’t. Are we about to shatter a decade-long common reality? Effectively, a little bit bit. Pavel’s fifth longform takes each title and inspiration from Fritz Lang’s iconic Metropolis – a panoramic imaginative and prescient of retro-modern grandeur, assembly expressionist dystopia, excessive above cloudscraping edifices and stark industrial backdrops. That nevertheless was as so near 100 years in the past as to make little distinction. Pavel, against this, solely started work on his ‘Metropolis’ after the discharge of his final two studio albums (‘Inhale’ and ‘Exhale’), again in 2021.
To take action, he’s drawn on a wellspring of collaborators from the pool of actors, singers, songwriters and voice artists he’s constructed up over twenty years of movie and musicmaking. To place that into ‘Metropolis’s context, it consists of Ryan Masson (quickly to be seen in season 2 of The Final of Us) and the not too long ago Grammy nominated singer Haley Johnsen.
A stunning collage of progressive and melodic home, fringed with techno, February 2025 finds him able to launch this singular reimagining. Welcome to the world of PARAFRAME’S ‘Metropolis’. 1927’s Metropolis was a fusion of visible storytelling, uncanny silent period ether and strikingly toned music – a modus that Khvaleev’s respectfully channelled into his interpretation. When composing, his thoughts’s eye will take him locations visually very particular certainly. To areas that could possibly be, effectively … wherever however right here. Naturally although, the frustration was he was ‘there’, however his viewers wasn’t. Ready for expertise to catch up has lengthy been the bane of the visionary, however traditionally the payoff is it will get there in the long run. That was the place Pavel lastly discovered himself three years in the past, and can also be the place he has damaged step with Lang. The ‘playground’ that 3D engine expertise now afforded him allowed him to position himself, not in entrance of ‘Metropolis’s towering buildings, however inside them – inside them. And to try this, he used Unreal Engine – the identical device that studios make use of to visually energy video games like Fortnite and reveals like The Mandalorian.
The Frankfurt-based artist goes on to elucidate. “I already had good expertise creating brief 3D animations with Unreal Engine, so I made a decision to work on a conceptual, hour-long movie, which built-in my reside performances and that of my vocalists. 3D designer Vasiliy Poryagin despatched me idea concepts for futuristic areas, that I then rebuilt and refined by means of Unreal, adapting them to turn out to be the visible element of ‘Metropolis’. I modified complete buildings, rearranged structure and added wildlife, all of the whereas having the ability to see the outcomes rendered in real-time.”
Finishing the challenge additionally required a collaborative troop of gamers, one thing Pavel already had shut at hand. “Except for their expertise’, he continues, ‘many of those artists have fascinating backgrounds. Ryan Masson for instance is a profitable Hollywood actor, with certainly one of his newest roles being within the new season of HBO’s The Final of Us. The great and charming Haley Johnsen was nominated for a Grammy final 12 months together with her solo challenge.
Boticka, whose voice might be heard within the monitor ‘We Are The Solely Ones’, has essentially the most fascinating and sensual tone on this planet—or on the very least France! The blokes from Denton Thrift had been merely born to sing, and that is already our second collaboration collectively. Avis Vox, my spouse, is important to each certainly one of my albums; I couldn’t think about releasing one with out her involvement.”
From one to the following, ‘Metropolis’s metropoles every fluctuate of their aesthetic. From the worn and industrialized to the borderline pristine, every tonally displays the audioscape PARAFRAME’s composed for it The technotic drive of latest single ‘Mermaids’ leans into, if not fairly the apocalyptic, then definitely the worn and dystopian. In contrast, ‘Breathe’ fashions a refreshingly vibrant, hyper-modern imaginative and prescient of mechanised industria. “I spent nearly three years engaged on this album’ concludes Pavel.’ It was a protracted journey as a result of typically it’s arduous to know when a monitor is really completed and able to share. Every track has its personal story and distinctive really feel, however on the identical time, they’re all linked by ‘Metropolis’s overarching vibe and ambiance.”
PARAFRAME’s music to involves life by means of ‘Metropolis’. You may expertise it, in all its gorgeous 60-minute glory right here, and its music by means of all good streaming and gross sales channels from Feb 7 by way of this hyperlink [blackhole.lnk.to/metropolisalbum].
Tracklist: PARAFRAME – Metropolis
01. Chook Life (with Avis Vox)
02. Breathe
03. We Are The Solely Ones
04. Mermaids
05. Strong Breaker (with Denton Thrift)
06. Panic
07. Really feel It Now (that includes Haley Johnsen)
08. Shut To Me
09. Son Of Earth (that includes Ryan Masson)
10. Radiance
11. The Secret Place
12. Transfer
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