After 13 years, the overlord of electronic music has spoken again. Richard D. James, under the pseudonym Aphex Twin, did not miss a musical beat with his new album, Syro, despite his hiatus from the industry that lasted over a decade.

Not only is James the overlord of electronic music, he is also the biggest pioneer of the genre and is responsible for popularizing sub-genres within electronic music.

Aphex Twin has had an diverse career, mastering everything from rave music to ambient to drum’n’bass to the more poppy fringes of electronic music. His newest release, Syro, continues in this experimental spirit.

There couldn’t be a starker contrast between the enigma of Aphex Twin and the lifestyle of most EDM artists today. While the likes of Avicii and Calvin Harris are playing festivals every weekend in the summer and basking in media attention, James is much more of a recluse. He plays very few live shows, and until very recently, James granted few interview requests. When he did give an interview, he would typically answer curtly, often with just one word.

This release, while undeniably Aphex Twin in style, is vastly different than any of his previous works. Even compared to Aphex’s previous release, Drukqs, Syro stands as a stark contrast. While Drukqs was a sprawling double-disc release navigating through 30 tracks, Syro is much trimmer. Despite reportedly sitting on hundreds or thousands of tracks he has made since 2003, Syro contains only 12 tracks.

And for good reason: they’re so awesome they can stand alone.

In true Aphex fashion, most tracks are unbelievably complex, beautifully layered and have a lot going on. Most of the tracks enter and exit periods of absolute, full-fledged deluges of stimulation, in the best way possible.

One of the clearest elements in Syro is the dynamic nature of the music. Even within songs, the feeling and tone can change drastically. Songs end up sounding absolutely nothing like when they began and morph limitlessly in between. The track “XMAS_EVET10 [120]” shifts from a stark drum beat to a chill, spaced­out synth effortlessly. “Syro u473t8+e [141.98]” transitions from a bouncy intro to an incredibly dense, wild portion to a calm part and then back to the frenetic energy.

An overarching and unifying sound on this album is a certain glitchiness and jumpy energy. One exception to this is the final track, “aisatsana [102]” (his wife’s name backwards).

The track was inspired by the idea of a piano swinging on a pendulum. The melodic, simple piano notes compared to the sound of birds chirping make this track stand out. It was perhaps written as a show of love to his wife, but after the jolting, unsettling experience of the prior 11 tracks, “aisatsana” feels more like a period of recovery and reflection on the rest of the album.

Especially in contrast to the track right before it, “s950tx16wasr10 [163.97]”, a 163 beats per minute shock to perception, “aisatsana” is a perfect ending to the album.

One departure from Aphex’s previous work is the increased presence of vocal samples. Although there are probably fewer than a dozen intelligible words, James seems to incorporate the spliced and distorted vocals more. He not only has his own voice on the album, but that of his wife, son, mother and father — not that you’d be able to tell.

Another striking thing about Syro is the sheer amount of different equipment used to produce it. There were over 130 different machines on the released equipment list. It’s a list that has left many of the gear­-obsessed salivating and includes many rare, vintage or modified pieces.

Overall Syro provides a technically tight, immensely satisfying listening experience and completely stands up to, and fits well, with the remarkable discography of Richard D. James. With Syro, James has made a unique album and has still put his Aphex Twin stamp on it.

More than anything, this album solidifies James’ place amongst the all­-time greats of electronic music, and proves he hasn’t lost a bit of the experimental outlook and flawless execution that made him famous.

4.5 out of 5 stars