Claro Intelecto
Metanarrative

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What their label says...

tracklisting : 01/. operation 02/. harsh reality 03/. innocence 04/. before my eyes 05/. gone to the dogs 06/. nodrex 07/. dependant 08/. beautiful death

background:
manchester’s mark stewart released his first material under the claro intelecto moniker back in 2003 with the highly acclaimed “peace of mind” ep. his
debut album “neurofibro” followed in 2004 and by the end of that year he parted company with his record label and decided to re-direct his attention
away from the idm and electro influences that shaped much of his early work. following a hookup with his friends at the modern love label, mark made
use of an astute line in reduction and a love of sonorous basslines to develop the “warehouse sessions”, a series of ep’s that carried the essence of
manchester’s infamous club prototypes with a look towards the stripped aesthetic of berlin and cologne, a formula which has seen him invited to some
of the most prestigious and forward thinking club events around the world over the last 18 months. with four years gone since the release of his debut
album, mark has spent the last year piecing together “metanarrative”, his long awaited second album and his first full length release for modern love.

metanarrative:
‘metanarrative’ is built around 8 tracks that provide the backbone and emotive arc for the grand narrative alluded to in the title. gone are the
uncompromising percussive arrangements of the warehouse sessions, instead the sound returns to a more melodic, quietly euphoric display of
opposites : sweet melodies and heavily padded bass frequencies, introspective conceits and propulsive percussion, and populist arrangements built
with a deviant sound palette.
opening track “operation” sums this process up perfectly, the arrangement building around a succession of chord progressions and shuffling
percussion that develop sweet tension and momentum without ever breaking into the obvious - the breakdown just never comes. “harsh reality” tugs
more openly at the heartstrings with an intro that gives you every reason to believe that what’s to follow might be the most readily commercial material
from this artist yet, but the eventual bassline inverts expectations and delivers something both moving and exhilarating, perhaps the most elusive and
prized combination of all in music making.
by the time the album ends with “beautiful death” a mere 40 minutes later, all that’s left is a weathered bass pulse and long forgotten memories that
urge you to return to those halcyon days, full of movement and life, all the way back on track one... short and perfectly formed, ‘metanarrative’ builds
bridges between techno and pop, between minimalism and rich songwriting, between the memories of the past and the opening of new horizons...