System

System is a dub-inspired experimental project of Danish electronic musicians Thomas Knak, Anders Remmer, and Jesper Skaaning, otherwise known for making frosty, suave downtempo as <a href="spotify:artist:3LrQ9oHVfwtek6ekYabSYN">Future 3</a>. System made its debut with a self-titled effort released by Stefan Betke's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22%7Escape%22">~scape</a> label in 2002. The musicians sporadically returned to the project throughout the coming decades; third System full-length Plus, a collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:5gqhueRUZEa7VDnQt4HODp">Nils Frahm</a>, arrived in 2018.

The three musicians first worked together as <a href="spotify:artist:3LrQ9oHVfwtek6ekYabSYN">Future 3</a>, beginning in the mid-'90s. The group's recordings generally contained bright keyboard melodies and chilled-out yet detailed beats, all cloaked in a thick blanket of reverb. The trio released a handful of recordings on Copenhagen-based label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22April+Records%22">April Records</a>; drum'n'bass-influenced 1996 single "The Boy from West Bronx" became an underground hit. Diverting from the <a href="spotify:artist:3LrQ9oHVfwtek6ekYabSYN">Future 3</a> sound, the trio released System in 2002. The album appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22%7Escape%22">~scape</a>, the label run by Stefan Betke, and it explored a fractured, glitchy sound with a heavy dub influence, not unlike Betke's esteemed work as <a href="spotify:artist:2oAUWVDrNRE76jqj9IkVK6">Pole</a>. While it didn't get the same amount of exposure that other <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22%7Escape%22">~scape</a> artists such as <a href="spotify:artist:6Bpr6Jvb2Ic7WlzPD9EPJT">Jan Jelinek</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:12luCqCg8kxdj61bectvNZ">Kit Clayton</a> did, the album came to be regarded as a hidden gem among certain fans of experimental dub and IDM.

After the album's release, the three musicians remained active with other projects, including Skaaning's <a href="spotify:artist:2qKVApnENvuiUcPUd6kc0R">Acustic</a> and Remmer's <a href="spotify:artist:3uBuZhRPzJrsdk6JxJWJuw">Dub Tractor</a>. The trio returned to the System moniker with Tempo, a significantly more playful EP issued by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rump+Recordings%22">Rump Recordings</a> in 2007. The same year also brought the self-titled debut by <a href="spotify:artist:7ANTsp702wu4v3ERCgWSXf">People Press Play</a>, the trio's glitch-pop collaboration with vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:2ho1S20YKb88ONI1oLXOAu">Sara Savery</a>. System's second album, B, appeared in 2010, updating the sound of the project's debut to incorporate a hint of dubstep and a slightly heavier melodic presence. The B Remixes EP followed in 2011.

Following the release of <a href="spotify:artist:3LrQ9oHVfwtek6ekYabSYN">Future 3</a>'s long-awaited fourth album in 2014, the trio began working with pianist <a href="spotify:artist:5gqhueRUZEa7VDnQt4HODp">Nils Frahm</a>, a noted fan of System's eponymous debut. Initially leaning toward a revisit of the original album's glitch-heavy sound, the musicians went in more of a minimal, ambient direction with the addition of <a href="spotify:artist:5gqhueRUZEa7VDnQt4HODp">Frahm</a>'s piano playing. Plus was released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Morr+Music%22">Morr Music</a>, home to the previous <a href="spotify:artist:3LrQ9oHVfwtek6ekYabSYN">Future 3</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7ANTsp702wu4v3ERCgWSXf">People Press Play</a> albums, in 2018. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi