We apologize for not updating this site much sooner regarding such an important album by Dean. There was some confusion as to release scheduling.
But now it's done, it's official and it's out.
Using his handle Surface 10, for the first time in roughly 17 years, electronic composer Dean De Benedictis has a new full-length album out, entitled A Stray Ending. The LP is yet again carried by recording-artist Ian Boddy's British label DiN Records, so it hasn't strayed far from home.
Surface 10 is the moniker that De Benedictis typically uses to brand his most daring, risk-taking electronic music. That said, A Stray Ending likely wouldn't classify as another one of his ambient albums, even though it does possess an ambient and ethereal mood to some degree.
A Stray Ending is a selection of new-and-old, unreleased tracks that have been worked, reworked and remixed for years behind the scenes. Some of its tempos are medium paced, other ones are slow and others are very fast (if one even wants to refer to them as tempos), along side a vast array of aggressive instrumentation and exploratory sound design. The album is an edgy reimagining of Electronica, IDM and EDM, with some jazz-fusion, experimental ambient and progressive-rock influence scattered throughout. As such, A Stray Ending isn't really designed as a calming, tranquil-mood-setting album, but rather a work for the adventurous and inspired listener. It's a world that Dean is very happy to return to after many years away from producing full-length albums as Surface 10.
Don't just take our word for all of this, of course. Give the album a whirl on the DiN Bandcamp page, where you can stream the full LP twice, or buy digital copies and/or even physical CDs in digipak form. It's roughly a 70-minute adventure, and the link is in the images below.
