Rifts and Information Processing in a Digital Age: An Unrelated Analysis

Before he was Cannes festival award winner, before he was a critically acclaimed producer, and before he worked with pop juggernauts like The Weeknd and Rosalia, Daniel Lopatin was just some guy in a New York basement apartment playing with a synthesizer. During the late 2000s, Daniel, also known as Oneohtrix Point Never, released several of his experiments across several releases including Betrayed in the Octagon, Russian Mind, and Zones Without People. In 2009, OPN released all three albums as the compilation Rifts, a colossal 33 song, 3-hour 8-minute release composed almost exclusively of synthesized drone with a smattering of samples here and there. 

Despite most of the songs being longform examination of patterns and repetition, or occasionally just hazy pads, there is a trancelike, otherworldly quality to Rifts that is completely enrapturing. Not only does Rifts sound like nothing else, but it also creates emotions in a way that feels completely alien yet connected to the everyday. Drawing on the schmaltzy tones of 80s synths, Lopatin creates a distinctly profound soundscape that recontextualizes elements from some of the least sincere music imaginable in a deeply foreign-yet-nostalgic way. By embracing the fantasy of these sounds, OPN deconstructs their previous meaning, allowing for a new perspective on the genuine meaning that such artificiality has in our lives. Providing both a refuge from and a spotlight onto these complexities is Rifts greatest success, allowing for rest without escape, a comforting confrontation of reality and existence. 

Rifts is music for the digital age, where facts are false, and the complexity of life seems like a never-ending downward spiral. Part of what draws me to the album is the way that it deals with complex emotions and themes in a seemingly simple way. Lately, I’ve been feeling increasingly overwhelmed by the vast quantity of information and perspectives available online: more and more I resent feeling the need to have an opinion on everything under the sun and hearing the opinions of everyone else on issues that I don’t even care about. I think it’s important to be informed, and necessary to view the world from the perspective of others as both things lead to a fuller and more empathetic life. That said, the sheer quantity available on the web is too much for any one person, and it is difficult to extract myself from the torrent that is the online world. 

This feeling is one that I also feel is echoed in Rifts, as Daniel tries to tackle the immensity of digital life. Instead of making huge, over the top music, he subtly deals in emotions and perspectives, processing what could never be processed rationally through pure feeling and intuition. At the end of the day, of course, Rifts is only a brief respite; the real world will always await. But I think the ethos of the album supports this reality, preparing the listener for whatever they will encounter past the fantasy of Daniel’s lush soundscapes. Rifts is a unique album, but it isn’t unique in this respect: any great art should leave the audience more prepared to handle some part of reality without having to use more linear modes of processing information to do so. Rifts just happens to speak to the reality of our current lives: surrounded by complex issues and irreconcilable perspectives, we are no less responsible for dealing with them.