Mariusz Duda, the artist known as the frontman of Riverside and the man behind Lunatic Soul, decided to release his new solo album in a somewhat controversial way, first by publishing the entire release online, and now making it available on cassette tapes. A new video for the new single called Escape Pod has been released, too.
“Escape Pod is probably the best summary of this album”, says Duda, “as well as a symbol of its message. It’s an escape from everyday life, which gradually changes for the better but still leaves a lot to me desired.”
On his solo path, Mariusz Duda decided to create mainly instrumental albums with minimalist electronica. Claustrophobic Universe is the second instalment of the Lockdown Trilogy, whose first part was last year’s Lockdown Spaces, nominated for Fryderyk, a Polish music award. Duda plays here only the synthesisers, samplers and drum machines. “Riverside is connected with a certain genre, Lunatic Soul – with another one. When I started my third project during the pandemic, I decided I didn’t want to repeat myself. As Mariusz Duda, I wanted to go back to my music roots; and those are not connected with playing the bass guitar in Riverside, but with playing the keyboards at 16 years old, and recording my own tapes with music inspired by Tangerine Dream and Vangelis. This is my point of reference now, when after all those years, I’m playing electronic music again and releasing it on cassette tapes as the only physical medium.”
Claustrophobic Universe is available online on digital platforms and streaming services, released by Glassville Records. And it is available on the artist’s Bandcamp. Thanks to Mystic Production, it will also be available on cassette tapes.
The album was produced by Magda and Robert Srzedniccy, who have also worked on Riverside and Lunatic Soul releases. The graphic design was created entirely by a German artist and illustrator, Hajo Müller.
