V0LAND - PLÜSCH (2026)

PLÜSCH is a peculiar record for me. All the tracks come from improvised sessions recorded in rural Bulgaria between October and December 2022. I had temporarily relocated there to be with my ailing grandmother, bringing a few semi-modular synths in my carry-on bag. With the devices set up on the kitchen table, I would experiment in the afternoons for an hour or two, until I stumbled upon something intriguing. I would then press record and play for another half hour before switching everything off, checking on my grandmother, and perhaps walking in the hills above the village.

Later, I was struck by how flamboyant these recordings sounded in contrast to the serene pastoral setting in which they were made. That time with my grandmother — some days easier than others — was tender, quiet, and full of light. The music seemed almost its opposite. In hindsight, the exuberant drama of these pieces may have been an outlet for my bewildered inner world, as I accompanied a loved one toward the end of her life.

When I returned to Berlin in October 2023, I reduced the material to its essence and shaped the pieces that became PLÜSCH. I did not add any new sounds, keeping strictly to the original recordings in honour of those perplexing winter afternoons full of affection, sorrow, sweetness, and confusion.

Listening to the album now, I remain mystified by how much these sounds — some comically ostentatious, others anxiously foreboding — stand in counterpoint to that poignant period in my life.