“Integrated Flux” by Martin Stürtzer

Based on Martin Stürtzer’s description of Space Is Not Empty, you might be tempted to think that this five-song album is a bit of a clearinghouse, a way for him to “get rid of” some old tracks in order to make way for his next “proper” album. But even if that were the case, Space Is Not Empty still contains some of his best music to date, namely “Integrated Flux.”

Stürtzer describes the “Integrated Flux” as an exploration of his more melodic side. Don’t fear, though: synth-pop this most certainly is not. The song’s nine minutes are still filled with the sort of celestial, spaced out atmospherics for which Stürtzer has become so well-known. (And yes, the album’s cover art is pretty accurate.) But haunting melodic fragments do ring out from amidst the nebulous drifts like dying signals from some long-lost alien civilization, buoyed by the Roland TB-303’s deep bass tones.

As is often the case, the addition of a little melodic structure doesn’t detract from the ambience one bit. Rather, melody enhances and focuses the ambience, granting it some more emotional depth than it would have otherwise.