Since its inception, Estonian imprint Liitheli has stood as a magnet for Baltic-bound adventurers of sound, channeling a distinctly off-centre sensibility. Their latest transmission comes from Tallinn-based polymath Rando Arand, whose latest opus ‘Child of the Internet’ feels like a conceptual USB stick plugged into the subconscious of Gen Z’s neural hard drive.
Known previously for contemplative, club-tinged instrumentals, Arand now breaks away from the grid entirely, diving headfirst into pop mutation, synth-funk and vocal collage with giddy precision. On ‘Child of the Internet’, Arand’s production becomes a motherboard for an intergenerational ensemble of Estonian voices: Hyrr IV (Ouu), Jon Mikiver (Elephants from Neptune), actress Mirtel Pohla, pop mystic Kitty Florentine, queer provocateur Helgi Saldo, comedian Maiduk and sonic amateurs Maihe and David.
What emerges is an audio scrapbook flickering between modes: sensual neo-soul ballads, cracked chillwave beats, chrome-finished house textures and lo-fi glitches with the emotional bandwidth of a Tumblr confession.
Our spotlight turns to ‘Fiber-Optic Cable’, one of the album’s quietly euphoric outliers, a breakbeat meditation slathered in hi-res shimmer and digitised longing. Here, Arand spins a thread between IDM ambient kinetics and post-Myspace bedroom aesthetics.
Snare ghosts and pixelated pads swim through a warm synthetic haze, while melodies glitch and refract like reflections in a cracked smartphone screen. It’s a track that captures the flickering intimacy of being online at 3AM, with no one else awake but your browser history and the hum of the router.
‘Child Of The Internet‘ is scheduled for release 19th April via Liitheli. Order a copy from Bandcamp.
1. Menu Diving
2. Slidin in Yo DM’s (ft. Hyrr IV)
3. WorldWideWeb
4. Refresh (ft. Jon Mikiver)
5. Up in the Cloud
6. Chonky Cat Meme (ft. Maihe)
7. Nutiboi
8. Like Comment Share and Subscribe (ft. Mirtel Pohla)
9. Just Scrolling (ft. Kitty Florentine)
10. Fiber-Optic Cable
11. Onlyfans (ft. Helgi Saldo)
12. Surfing the Dark Web (ft. David)
13. Data Harvesting
14. There’s No One New Around You
15. AInternet Radio
16. Crypto (ft. Maiduk)
17. Accept All Cookies
18. You’re All Caught Up