Super-Jewel Case, 8 page booklet Everything begins with changes, whether you re moving geographically or emotionally. AeraÕs album ãThe Sound PathÓ tells the story of this sentiment. Born in the high north of Germany and now a Berlin resident, Ralf Schmidt aka Aera first appeared on the electronic music map when he established his own Aleph Music label back in 2010. With only a handful of releases, Aera was able to lay out his very own musically topography on the cutting edges between house, psychedelia and breakbeats. This colourful mix culminated on his debut album ãOffseason TravellerÓ in 2013, resonating the past forty years of electronic music, which brought him the attention of a wider audience as well as fellow djs and producers. So it was a logical consequence that his talent also attracted other labels and lead to widely praised releases on Innervisions, Maeve or John TalabotÕs Hivern Discs. With these, AeraÕs sound bloomed further into bubbly acid and trancey territorries and his fine reputation as a singular producer, travelling dj and remixer flourished. With ãThe Sound PathÓ Aera continues his musical travels and Permanent Vacation is gladly hitchhiking on that ride. His second album is the most coherent and definitely most personal work to date. Here, he has perfected his sound even further - adding nuances from the meadows of New Age, Kraut cliffs and high-flying kites of Ambient. Complete with the cinematic and nature-esque qualities of RalfÕs music, it will draw you in deeply through a great variety of landscapes before your inner eye. However, youÕll never lose track, because this path is beautifully illuminated.