Âme Drop 'The Witness' EP for Innervisions 100th Release, Calling it a "Landmark We Had Never Imagined"

Alongside label co-founder Dixon, Kristian Rädle and Frank Wiedemann of the Berlin-based electronic music duo Âme have spent the past 16 years building Innervisions into a globally-recognizable imprint. And The Witness — a brand-new four-track EP from Âme — marks the 100th release from Innervisions, signaling an exciting new era for the renowned label.

Embracing a new “clean-cut façade from both an artwork and business perspective,” each Innervisions release moving forward will have its own aesthetic identity. In addition, the label has announced a new “album-based focus,” which will drive their release schedule moving forward.

The arrival of their new EP comes three years after Âme’s last original release on Innervisions with their debut album, Dream House. Despite being known worldwide for their prominence in the house music scene, The Witness combines the pair’s various techno influences with slow-burning indie dance elements, spacious melodic arrangements, and cutting-edge vocal experimentation. Check it out below.

Âme’s The Witness will also be available as an NFT — a first for the highly regarded imprint that comes as part of a new strategy to connect with its community through new mediums of technology and sound.

We briefly caught up with Âme to learn more about this Innervisions milestone, the spirit of their new EP, and the future of the label. Read below.

What’s it like to see your label reach such a milestone?

It’s truly a special release — a landmark we had never imagined we would reach. It also made us realise that it’s so long that we haven’t released on our own label and that motivated us to finally contribute our EP.

You went in a tougher, more techno-oriented direction on the IV100 EP than on most previous releases, especially on “The Witness” and “What The Hell.” What inspired this harder sound, and can we expect more from Âme in the future?

Actually, we feel it also reflects our spirit from our early days. We always sought to make music that we feel is missing in electronic music currently.

When it does not fulfill expectations, we also like that. Our last release on Innervisions was our debut album Dream House, much more a home-listening journey. This time we deliberately imagined a club EP. On the title track, we’ve had KARYYN’s lyrics lead us to the sound and structure that we’ve felt right.

And what about Innervisions — with 100 releases done, what does the future of the imprint hold?

We’ve never wanted to repeat learned formulas and even considered closing the Innervisions series altogether. However, with the impact that streaming affects our listening habits outside the dancefloor, and therefore the release culture, we strongly feel to develop artist’s statements in album formats. We’re already looking forward to sharing the projects that are in the pipeline.

Âme’s The Witness EP is out now via Innervisions.