Across releases for labels including Houndstooth, Turbo and Warp offshoot Arcola, Anastasia Kristensen has always striven for something interesting, honing an individualistic vision along the way; and despite being a headline DJ at major arenas, she’s known for weaving curveballs into her compellingly colourful sets. This unpredictability is at the heart of what she does, and it culminates in the eccentric and captivating debut album Bestiarium Sombre.
When describing digging for ideal records in a 2023 interview, Kristensen detailed a deeper thought behind her criteria, wanting tracks “with a face”, meaning personality and character, with a life of their own. Fast forward to 2026 and she has pioneered her own style of Anthropomorphic Music, where each track personifies an animal. Roughly translated from Latin as ‘gathering of dark beasts’, some of this menagerie are figments of Anastasia’s imagination whilst others, despite their outlandish names, do actually exist.
Nothing is standard or predictable, sounds slide in and out at unexpected moments and structures are fluid. Yet everything is intentional, strident, and hangs together. This perfect kind of organised oddness is bolstered by impeccable production and floor-friendly punch, cramming more intrigue and inventiveness into 40ish minutes than the meat-and-potatoes brigade will in a lifetime.
Influenced by the free spirit of original UK genres bleep and jungle, with an added dose of dubbed-out IDM, the album harks back to a time before the generic greyscale of tasteful techno set in. Rather than the standard axis of space / dystopia / futurism, Anastasia channels something far weirder, telling a story in abstract that’s closer to Roald Dahl or Maurice Sendak than it is Philip K. Dick or JD Ballard.
In 2026 the overused ‘worldbuilding’ platitude probably needs to be put to bed, but this really does situate you in an alternate reality. Journeying deep into a fantasy jungle at dusk, Bestiarium Sombre is a kaleidoscopic place of sacred dances, where neon silhouettes of mysterious creatures gyrate through the balmy darkness.
Chirruping like a dawn chorus is the prologue ‘Magpie Song’, whose cinematic percussion and big synth waves set the scene for adventure. The burbling widescreen weightless of ‘Intro’ follows, leading into the spiky cyberdance of ‘Black-Footed Ferret’.
‘The Secretary Bird’ is a creature that stomps snakes to death, which is perfectly captured in its 4/4 thwack, whilst sounds stretch, fizz and shatter across the high frequency range. The fidgety, glitching deconstructed techno of ‘Sulphur Mustang’ gives way to the strange digital domain of ‘Silver Cuttlefish’, before the ‘Hydraulic Whale’ is portrayed by the expulsion of air and swathes of stretched acidic rubber, which cut which cut through the track like its namesake through water.
‘Outro’ is the album’s most straight moment, traversing an ambient techno tundra which clears space for the LP’s late peak. The precision beats, timestretched breaks, and creeping atmospherics of anthemic epilogue ‘Bestiarium Sombre’ bring a storming jungle techno culmination to this wondrous, twilight world.
Anastasia Kristensen “Bestiarium Sombre”
May 8th
Vinyl / download / stream
Track-list:
1. Magpie Song
2. Intro
3. Black-Footed Ferret
4. Secretary Bird
5. Sulphur Mustang
6. Hydralic Whale
7. Silver Cuttlefish
8. Outro
9. Bestiarium Sombre
Events:
06/03 Copenhagen – Den Anden Side – DJ set
27/03 Canberra – One22 – DJ set
28/03 Melbourne – Sub Club – DJ set
4/04 Sydney – Chinese Laundry Club – DJ set
1/05 Copenhagen – RUST – live set
Stay tuned to the Techno Trip Tracks of the Week selection and Listen toAnastasia Kristensen ‘s new music first
Follow
https://www.instagram.com/anastasia.kristensen/
