for an act that bills itself as being dawless as a selling point (and i think that to daw or not to daw is a triviality - i care about what it sounds like, not what gear you use to make it. i'm willing to use real synths and software synths, myself, depending on what i have access to - sometimes in the same song. and, no, you can't tell me you can hear the difference between somebody using a nord lead plugin programmed with a midi sequence, and somebody using an actual nord lead programmed with a hardware sequencer. but, a nord lead costs about $5000 and you can download plugins for free. people that push the point too strenuously are just being juvenile, but it's worse than that - it's more of a class argument, a status position, and an attempt to restrict people's access to the technology. that is the great thing about daws - they make the technology more accessible to more people. a good sound artist should have room for everything they can find, and a wish list of things they can't.), it's a shame that you can't really tell.

they make a lot of use of the kinds of sounds that trent reznor & atticus ross did about ten years ago. they were using daws. and sound fonts. and, they drew very heavily from stuff that moby was doing a little earlier.

it's pleasant.

but, i can't help but think that if they just programmed this as a backbeat (and, they could. easily.) then it would open up a lot of space to do some more dynamic and creative writing. there are points that could use a good lead part, or something to otherwise break out of the loops. if they weren't so focused on operating all of this legacy gear....

https://pinksky.bandcamp.com/album/meditations-ii