“The birth of Krautrock came after Nazi Germany, when there was no culture left in the country, and musicians were like, ‘Where do we go from here? What sounds do we make?’ It was the sound of a new beginning for those people.”
This quotation isn’t from a music history book — it’s from a conversation I had last fall with Nashville’s own synthesizer great Eve Maret. The 26-year-old artist was espousing the progressive psychedelic movement stewarded by timeless Teutonic bands of the ’60s and ’70s like Neu!, Can and Kraftwerk. Though she wasn’t necessarily forecasting the giant question mark that is our post-pandemic musical landscape, the discussion feels relevant. Krautrock healed listeners, and Maret’s music has similar aims.
“Space Freeway” marks the first new release from Maret since her essential 2020 LP Stars Aligned, and the official unveiling of The Feature, a duo with fellow synth traveler Adrienne Franke. Though the project is new, Maret and Franke have been friends and collaborators for more than a decade. While housebound last year, the two got to trading Ableton demos and shaping them into a cohesive full-length statement.
There’s no release date set for that yet, but “Space Freeway” is a hell of a trailer. Delivering on its evocative title, the lush, propulsive track beams the listener up and guides them through a succession of astral instrumental passages using interlocking delayed guitars and whooshing synths to conjure spaceships cruising side-by-side at night on an interstellar Autobahn. The only real drawback is that the ride is over after just five minutes — but that’s what the repeat function and iTunes visualizer are for.
Hear “Space Freeway” above. Look for album updates on Maret’s social media (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook) and the site for Franke’s 2021 project writingasongaweek.com.
