Published by Alessandro Violante on September 28, 2026
Writing about an artist as Function, who’s been making techno for 30 years, isn’t an easy task. After having joined the Regis’ Sandwell District collective in 2004, he became even more known and appreciated by the industrial techno movement. Also his activity with his label Infrastructure New York (formerly, together with Ed Davenport), still active and releasing great music, must definitely be mentioned to portray the career of an artist still having a truly relevant impact on underground techno. Last year, on his label, he released a full length by Nastia Reigel. This year they’ve released an EP together on Dekmantel UFO. This proves that his music is considered relevant in the same way it was 30 years ago.
His latest release, the 12” Aeternum (Existenz), dedicated to the memory of Juan Mendez and here reviewed, was released on Tresor on 3rd July, consisting of four tracks plus two additional tracks only available in digital format. The release could be considered the last chapter of a particularly prolific arc of his career, started seven years ago with the kaleidoscopic enormous album Existenz, released in 2019. Since that record, he released Subject F (Transcendence) in 2020 on Eaux, Awakening From the Illusory Self in 2021 on Tresor, the Green EP in 2023 on his own label, and now this last effort.
Over 30 years of career, the sound of this multifaceted artist evolved until reaching what we can hear on his records released during these seven years: dreamlike experiences built with the tools of the trade of “ambient techno”, not strictly conceived to be danced to, but also something to listen to with great attention of its details. The artworks conceived for this release as well as for Existence and Awakening From the Illusory Self are blurry, abstract and especially boundless, as well as the music they contain.
Songs such as City of Luz with its length of almost 13 minutes and Growth Cycle (Hermetic Mix) with its length of almost 8 minutes are visionary experiences closer to proper artworks than to techno outputs, but all the tracks of the release, each having different vibes and sounds, moving from 4/4 techno to the beatless opening of Ascent, from the electro of November 29 to the drones of Rubedo, communicate to the listener something beyond music itself: an invitation to enjoy some kind of introspective spiritual journey.
Although an output such as November 29 can evoke what done in Kurzstrecke and The Approach and Growth Cycle (Hermetic Mix) is a variation on an already released output, all of them included in the Existenz album, Aeternum (Existenz) shouldn’t only be considered an appendix to the Existenz album. Electronic music, especially techno, has always been about reworking older songs giving them new and different identities, and that’s what Function did here.
After all these years of releasing music and playing in the best venues, a release as Aeternum (Existenz) proves once again that Function is still in one of his many creative peaks, “plays in a league of his own” and will play soon in Berlin, Barcelona, Athens and London. Who knows what’s going to happen next.
Label: Tresor
Rating: 8.5