Get to know Perel, a master of precision-engineered German hypnotism

When was the last time you found yourself on a dancefloor pondering the links between spirituality and hedonism? And we mean properly pondering, not just pontificating in the queue for the bar because the signal’s dodgy and Instagram won’t refresh. If the answer doesn’t immediately spring to mind, Annegret Fiedler’s debut LP ‘Hermetica’ might just give you pause for thought.

“The Egyptian-Greek didactic texts, in particular the hermetic writings, had a big influence on on how my album formed and grew,” Berlin-based Fiedler says, referencing the second-century tracts that sought to explain the intricacies and oddities of nature, the cosmos, and divinity itself. “I learned to follow my intuition and to trust in the natural flow of things. I started to allow imperfections as a result of being human, because I got so tired of perfectionism overall.”

Deeply hypnotic, the album –released on James Murphy’s DFA – is an intense, churning, blackest-ever-black run through nine elongated, juddering bolts from the murky blue. Sitting somewhere between a more melodically inclined take on Sandwell District’s chiaroscuro techno and a darker interpretation of the sweetly melancholy, lightly theatrical synth-pop of Eurythmics, it is motorik, confident and sleek, machine music of the most finely tuned kind.

“In December 2016 I played with Justin Strauss at The Lot Radio in New York,” she recalls. “Suddenly Juan Maclean showed up and asked me about a few of the tracks I’d played. “Whoops, those are mine actually,” I said. He passed them to DFA. Two weeks later they asked for a debut LP. It’s surreal to me.”

Anyone who’s seen Dixon playing out over the last few years will likely have heard the Innervisions man ride in and out of ‘Die Dimension’, ‘Hermetica’s haunting and justly hyped lead track. Running on spaced-out synths and rolling over circular arpeggios, buoyed by an air of dewy-eyed hope, it gestures toward the infinite possibilities of the open road.

“There’s a phenomenon when travelling by car or train,” Fiedler says. “After a while all impressions rush past subconsciously and it feels like an endless repetition of pictures, and yet they change constantly. In those moments another journey starts in yourself, based on the impressions and moods outside.”

We’re ready to follow Perel on her journey. Just remember to brush up on your ancient Egyptian first.

‘Hermetica’ is out now on DFA