Perel, real name Annegret Perel Fiedler, has signed to Kompakt for her first full-length album since 2018’s Hermetica on DFA.
Interacting with acid, EBM, and electro, Jesus Was An Alien is comprised of 10 new cuts “rich in spirit and allusion,” we’re told. Its influences are myriad, from the indie dance hitmakers of the early 2000s—Hot Chip, Simian Mobile Disco, Justice—to rave compilations and various more abstract inputs. The album features Perel’s voice almost entirely, but there’s also a collaboration with Canadian songwriter Marie Davidson on the title-track.
Conceptually, the album is a “discourse about whether Jesus was an actual alien,” Perel explains, “but also a social debate about what is and implies religion today.” She describes the release as a soundtrack “through the intricacies and ironies of modern belief.”
Alongside the announcement, Perel has shared the title-track, on which she lays out a disciplined electro pulse, with Davidson’s proclamations growing more fervent over the song’s stride. “I already said everything with my synthesizers and the melodies I created,” Perel explains of the collaboration, but “somehow she gave the song a voice I couldn’t!” The single is available now alongside two club edits.
Jesus Was An Alien follows a string of EPs and singles by Perel, including 12″s Real, from earlier this year, and 2021’s Star. You can read more about her in her XLR8R Bubblin’ Up feature here.
Tracklisting
01. The Tragedy of CG
02. Jesus Was An Alien feat. Marie Davidson
03. Real
04. Hunger
05. Matrix
06. Religion
07. The Principle of Vibration
08. Kill The System
09. Life Aquatic
10. Am Kanal
Jesus Was An Alien LP is scheduled for May 13 release. Meanwhile you can stream the title-track and the remixes below.
