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Change, transformation, development -- these have always been the motor behind Berlin electronic duo Dapayk & Padberg. On their fourth album, they have made, perhaps, the most uncompromising step during their 10-year career, in which they have become one of Europe's most fascinating club acts. Their magic formula? Looking for alternatives. With Smoke, they bid a temporary farewell to the dancefloor. They are taking new paths, searching, trying new, never-before-seen patterns. These paths led the duo from the golden hills of Provence to the dark, autumnal lowlands at the border between Scotland and England. The influence of those places is felt throughout the whole record with its atmospheric hybrid tracks. After their album Sweet Nothings (SVT 073CD), with its summery/ funky sound, Dapayk & Padberg now open the door to a gloomy, melancholic world. While Sweet Nothings was a balancing act between the club and home-listening electronic, the duo now turns their back on the dancefloor to take the listener on an acoustic tour through their personal Amber Room. With their chamber-electro mix, containing characteristics of dubstep, catchy pop-elements, classical string arrangements and a singer/songwriter-like intimacy, they create new sound-rooms. Dapayk & Padberg's albums have always been snapshots of their current emotional world -- with Smoke they created their most consistent and self-contained collection of songs to date. Against all expectations, sometimes even against their own natures as artists, they let go of all-too familiar and comfortable structures. Smoke is all about overcoming those lines between different genres, letting go, opening their mind to the new, without worrying about fitting into a certain niche or having to compromise. "Silent Fireworks," with its song-like structure, brings to mind the hymns of Lamb, Jamie Woon or James Blake. Eva's voice delivers a broken intimacy which is carried by Niklas' adventurous and sophisticated sound structures. The hypnotic "No Words" starts out with Eva's ethereal, fragile vocals spun around a dry, blurred electronic track which then explodes into a huge, unknown universe of sounds. "Headless Queen" was inspired by the imprisonment and execution of Mary Queen of Scots in 1587. The inspiration for the album title came not only from those cold days spent in Scotland but also has its historic routes in Niklas' family tree. "My grandmother is a true well of inspiration. She told me that she was faintly related to the Austrian painter Oskar Kokoschka, so I decided to name one of my projects Kokoschka. But also, that there was a blood relative on her side of the family who came from England by the name of Smoke. The name has been spooking around in my head for years and I always wanted to name an EP or track after it. We thought that it was an excellent title for the album." CD is housed in a digipak and includes a photo booklet.
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