Photo by Andrew Strasser & Shawn Lovejoy / Joe Perri  

Daniel Lopatin’s name has become one of the less obvious guesses to become a pop culture reference point, but there he is producing mega hits for the Weekend and helping pull off a live Superbowl halftime spectacle with him, scoring acclaimed blockbusters, and even Star Wars TV shows streaming on Disney+. It’s a trajectory you’d probably not have expected to spawn from his surreal, experimental digital underworld a decade ago, but then ago, who would have guessed that Lopatin’s kindred creative trailblazer, Trent Reznor, would go from writing songs about fucking you like an animal to nabbing Oscars for scoring family-friendly animated films? That said, the path that’s led Lopatin and Oneohtrix Point Never down to “A Barely Lit Path” may have never been a clear one, but on the closing track and first preview from his new album, Again, these sonic topographies over-arching his career are merging into a single plane with cinematic effect, as a digital alien synthesis of sounds from outside this universe ascends into heaven with more classically curated strings. The whole collects every particle of energy before collapsing into nothing. Whether you hear that plot twist as self-referential to all of creation or just the Oneohtrix Point Never multi-verse, it’s a marvel to explore. And wonder.

Directed by: Freeka Tet

Oneohtrix Point Never’s Again will be September 29th on Warp Records.