Recondite Hinterland (Smokey Black)

In 2013, following excursions in deep house, acid, and techno that made him "one of Berlin's most compelling artists," per Resident Adviser, Lorenz Brunner brought his Recondite project to Ghostly International for the definitive full-length, Hinterland. The producer looked to his childhood homeland of Lower Bavaria, utilizing field recordings to map the music to the emotions of the region's seasons. Hinterland presented an atmosphere - icy, eerie, melancholic music that crossed intimate melodies with crisp percussion - what would become Recondite's signature. "This is the album that had to come out of Recondite eventually," he said at the time. "It is Recondite." A decade later, the sound remains wholly his own.