DVA’s new album ‘NOTU_URONLINEU’ marks a strong and brave turning point for his music. Made with the [Hi:Emotions] moniker that DVA has used for a number of remixes in the past, ‘NOTU_URONLINEU’ is very different from what you might know him for, both in its darkness and its abstract ambitions, but the detail and quality of the music is primed to win over new fans. The rhythmic brilliance and use of space that have given his dance floor recordings their distinct character have mutated and undergone re-assembly into deeper and darker shades. A more pronounced ‘off grid’, improvised character has seeped in, lending the record a looser feel to previous work, as if intuition guides it rather than club practicalities.The album was made under some new self-imposed conditions; of the recording process, DVA says ‘I realised before making this album I was most happy when listening to music in the dark like I did when I was at school. So I decided to record the whole album in the dark too’. Along with this, the album hints at themes of online alienation, confusion, control and domination, and is peppered with hints of faux-therapeutic advertising and psychotic jingles – a reflection of the stress of online life. Of the themes, DVA says ‘The album project comes from a short visual story set in a time where a mega corporation named H:E / Hi:Emotions is slowly taking control of everything, and planning to eventually make all people live life under one brand in virtual reality. ‘NOTU_URONLINEU’ puts you at the start of that journey.