Kettenkarussell - Insecurity Guard (2017)

At the tail end of 2016, Giegling released a fine EP of remixes of tracks from Kettenkarussell's 2014 debut album, Easy Listening. It seemed like a strange move at the time (even if the remixes were excellent), but thanks to the appearance of this sophomore album now makes perfect sense. As follow-ups go, Insecurity Guard is rather impressive. Deep, atmospheric and, at times, otherworldly, the album flits between crackling, ambient-influenced haziness, locked-in dancefloor wooziness, twinkling, string-laden techno, dubbed-out goodness (the hissing goodness of "Your Hands") and the kind of loose and languid fusions of electronic and acoustic instrumentation that defy easy categorization (see sublime closer "Brueder").