Recondite closed 2021 by introducing Taum, a forthcoming seventh studio album that placed personal geography and pandemic-era feeling at its center. Scheduled for January 14, 2022 on Plangent Records, the 11-track record was presented as a meeting point between the artist’s Berlin home and the Lower Bavaria landscape where he grew up.
That tension between city and countryside also shaped the album’s emotional range. Taum was described as a reflection of feelings experienced during the pandemic, with pastoral and urban influences sharing the same space. Its promised palette moved from Recondite’s deep, melodic and meditative side toward darker, more angular material informed by a long-standing interest in hip hop, grime and trap. The result, at least from the announcement, suggested a record willing to stretch his established language without losing its inward pull.
The first glimpse arrived with Naif, shared as Taum’s lead single. Its stern, swaggering drums give the track a grounded confidence, offering a firmer edge than the softer descriptors around the wider project might imply. With Naif opening the door and Taum still ahead on the calendar, Recondite’s December announcement made January 14 feel less like a finish line than a carefully marked destination.
