Picking up where 2018’s debut album left off, Pleasurekraft continue their foray into the Cosmic Techno sub-genre they helped usher in to the dance music lexicon. Having released on their own Kraftek label - as have fellow techno explorers Spektre this year - and had one of the biggest tracks last year on Drumcode with their remix for Adam Beyer’s “Space Date,’ they always bring forward thinking grooves embellished with astral melodies and spaced out synths that make for emotional as well as physical experiences. The new album Love in the Age of Machines is in no short supply of the sonic signatures the production duo have become known for, there is a clear maturation at work here. The album’s non-techno tracks showcase an artistry rarely seen in conventional dance music and techno in particular. From the gritty dystopian future that establishes the album’s themes at the onset in Last Sapien, to the dark, rainy, urban-lit textures that form the spine of Nostalgic for the Future, there is a sense of impending self-wrought catastrophe, tempered with a sense of wonder of all that is, and all that could be if humanity somehow overcomes its hubris.TRACK LISTING: A1. Last Sapien, A2. Nostalgic for the Future ft. Jordan Smart, B1. Hush ft Amal Gama, B2. Panopticon (The Patron Saint of Global Surveillance) C1. The Occupant, C2. I Sing the Body Electric, D1. Corpse Reviver Number 3, D2. Main Sequence, E1. Novacene, E2. At the Mountains of Madness, F1. Primordial, F2. Requiem for the American Dream