Max Rael ○ Almost

  From CANADA 

British electronic artist Max Rael presents 'Almost', a powerful and introspective track that explores the gut-wrenching feeling of being on the brink of success, only to have it slip through your fingers. It’s a raw look at the best-laid plans—whether in love, career, or life in general—and the crushing disappointment that comes with defeat. 

This is the latest taste of Rael's debut solo album 'The Enemy Is Us', released via London imprint Liquid Len Media. Capturing the moment when hope gives way to anger and self-blame, a feeling many of us know all too well, this is a track for anyone who has ever dared to dream, only to be left to pick up the pieces.

Showcases his singular talents, unique twists on sound design, and unique lyrical perspectives, Rael's powerful thought-provoking spoken-word lyrics confront a world in freefall—its corruption, alienation, and misery. Conflating a painfully personal portrait of an interior world, this is an achingly universal depiction of society and the world outside. Unearthing a resilient core of hope and gallows humour that burns brightly through the darkness, this is a complex and compelling take on the human condition.

"I wrote 'Almost' about the anger that comes from failure, especially when you've put everything on the line. I wanted to explore the idea that when things don’t work out, that anger can so easily turn inward. It’s a commentary on that self-defeating spiral where you start to question your own right to hope in the first place. This song, along with the music video, is about finding a way to release that frustration in a safe way, a way that doesn’t turn into self-punishment," says Max Rael.

"The music video visually represents this theme of suppressed anger and release. Inspired by Stu Francis, host of early 1980's UK children's television program 'Crackerjack' and his classic catchphrase "Ooh I could crush a grape," the video features the repeated motif of fruit being squashed. This act serves as a metaphor for finding a healthy, acceptable way to vent your frustrations rather than internalizing them. It’s a commentary on the small acts of release we can use to prevent our anger from becoming a destructive force."  

Based in Hertfordshire, Max Rael is a key creative force in the UK underground, beginning with 1990s-2000s electro-goth trailblazers History Of Guns, frontrunners of the Wasp Factory / FuturePunk scene, and later, Decommissioned Forests. Musician, writer, actor, engineer and producer, Max Rael has collaborated with Fish (Marillion), Last July, Kommand + Kontrol, Freudstein and Bienheldenschafgegenstand. 

A dark bouquet of minimalist synth, darkwave and spoken-word electronic pop, Rael's album introduces his compelling ‘futuretroist’ sound: an alternative sonic universe built on a unique sound design that feels at once familiar and alien. Rael recently released the video for  'Pressing Against The Glass', a danceable elegy for those who don't "belong", channelling the deep-seated ache of being an outsider.

Rael's earlier shadow-streaked 'Slightly Less Than Human' is a nervy electronic track with a great hooky synth melody and spoken word vocals. Partly inspired by Japanese author Osamu Dazai. Lyrically, Max Rael relays his feeling of being somehow different from the rest of the human race, while the non-album B-side 'When the Only Winning Move Is Not to Play' relates to the 1983 film "War Games" and the book 'The Games People Play' by Eric Berne.

Max Rael's debut single 'Brighter Future', released in April, explores avoidant strategies of coping with life in a seemingly increasingly chaotic and unsafe world and an anticipated dystopian future. The B-side 'The People We Love Have Won (Persistence Is All)' is darker, named after Coil's 2000 London performance at The Royal Festival Hall (which he also tattooed on the inside of Rael's left wrist).

Spoken word, electronic music and loud drums feature strongly on the 12-track album, produced and mixed by Max Rael with additional mixing by Caden Clarkson and mastered by Pete Maher (U2, Nick Cave, Depeche Mode, Pixies. Nine Inch Nails). Fusing a range of electronic music styles with other genres, Max Rael is a master journeyman of existential exploration into humanity, self, society, reality, psychology, philosophy and the future.

'The Enemy Is Us' is out now, available from fine digital platforms, including Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, and Bandcamp.

"British electronic provocateur Max Rael plunges headlong into poignant minimalist synth paranoia... majestic... Confronting identity, reality, and existential anxiety, Max Rael emerges as a restless explorer of psyche and philosophy, reflecting humanity’s fractured face back at itself" ~ Post-Punk.com

"I truly enjoyed mastering them. It's a great album! Exactly how I like them" ~ Pete Maher (U2, Nick Cave, Depeche Mode, Pixies. Nine Inch Nails).

"An artist steeped in the grit and edge of industrial music has ventured into the realm of synthpop, not to abandon his roots, but to transmute them.... a testament to how the grim realities of dystopia and societal woes can be confronted with an unexpected, almost paradoxical, sense of rhythmic joy... an album that invites you to ponder the world's complexities and surrender to the beat" ~ Spill Magazine

Max Rael

Almost

Watch the new video.
'The Enemy Is Us' album released via Liquid Len Media

8 September 2025

CREDITS
Written by Max Rael
Max Rael - vocals, keyboards, guitar & programming
Caden Clarkson - guitars on 'My First Death' and 'Almost'
Produced by Max Rael
Additional production, mixing & string arrangement 
by Caden Clarkson
Mastered by Pete Maher
Released by Liquid Len Recording Company
'Almost' video shot by Priyanka Trivedi in Kew,
  UK & Abades Leper Colony, Tenerife
'Brighter Future' video by Abigail Clarkson
'Slightly Less Than Human' video by Max Rael
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR
Single cover artwork for 'Almost' by Priyanka Trivedi
Album cover artwork & photographs by Filiz Photography 
Copyright @filizphotographyuk 2025 - must not be
  altered or sold without photographer's permission
UPC / EAN no. 199199781569


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