UK-based Auto-Pilot consists of Adrian Collier and Shaun Herbert, releasing together since 1995 (with interruptions) on labels such as Holophon or Syngate. According to Adrian, “The Atlantic Machine” can easily be considered their most emotional album: “I’d had a particularly tough and traumatic year and had been through a lot of emotional turmoil. Out of the darkness, came the seeds of this project. I drew upon all my thoughts, emotions and soul searching during this period, and as I came back into the light, I knew it was the time to write a concept album based on my experience. […] In fact, the title track is a representation of my salvation point. From there on in, the album represents my journey back to rediscovering where in life I needed to be.” Contrary to what one might expect in light of this background, “The Atlantic Machine” is an intrinsically optimistic, powerful and musically diverse journey, leading us from traditional ambient electronica via dub and post-rock excursions even as far as deep into a parallel pop universe of upbeat post-punk songs and emotional autotune ballads. Diversity is a direct result of Auto-Pilot’s multi-instrumentalism and manifold collaborations with artists like Canadian rapper Sham Art, bass player Malcolm Brown and (Do Not Resuscitate) sound engineer Greg Bonnier. Michal Jansen (Mastering Perfection) provided a well-balanced mastering to the entire album. “The Atlantic Machine” is the most beautiful as well as deeply personal documentation of Auto-Pilot’s dream-like journey back to the light.
![[brq82] Auto-Pilot - The Atlantic Machine](/img/work/nomencl/m_5615.jpg "[brq82] Auto-Pilot - The Atlantic Machine")
