UK-based electronic artist Max Rael (History of Guns) presents 'Almost' from debut album

September 8, 2025

British electronic artist Max Rael presents 'Almost', a powerful and introspective track that explores the gut-wrenching feeling of being on the brink of success, only to have it slip through your fingers. It’s a raw look at the best-laid plans—whether in love, career, or life in general—and the crushing disappointment that comes with defeat.

This is the latest taste of Rael's debut solo album 'The Enemy Is Us', released via London imprint Liquid Len Media. Capturing the moment when hope gives way to anger and self-blame, a feeling many of us know all too well, this is a track for anyone who has ever dared to dream, only to be left to pick up the pieces.

Showcases his singular talents, unique twists on sound design, and unique lyrical perspectives, Rael's powerful thought-provoking spoken-word lyrics confront a world in freefall—its corruption, alienation, and misery. Conflating a painfully personal portrait of an interior world, this is an achingly universal depiction of society and the world outside. Unearthing a resilient core of hope and gallows humour that burns brightly through the darkness, this is a complex and compelling take on the human condition.

"I wrote 'Almost' about the anger that comes from failure, especially when you've put everything on the line. I wanted to explore the idea that when things don’t work out, that anger can so easily turn inward. It’s a commentary on that self-defeating spiral where you start to question your own right to hope in the first place. This song, along with the music video, is about finding a way to release that frustration in a safe way, a way that doesn’t turn into self-punishment," says Max Rael.

"The music video visually represents this theme of suppressed anger and release. Inspired by Stu Francis, host of early 1980's UK children's television program 'Crackerjack' and his classic catchphrase "Ooh I could crush a grape," the video features the repeated motif of fruit being squashed. This act serves as a metaphor for finding a healthy, acceptable way to vent your frustrations rather than internalizing them. It’s a commentary on the small acts of release we can use to prevent our anger from becoming a destructive force."

Based in Hertfordshire, Max Rael is a key creative force in the UK underground, beginning with 1990s-2000s electro-goth trailblazers History Of Guns, frontrunners of the Wasp Factory / FuturePunk scene, and later, Decommissioned Forests. Musician, writer, actor, engineer and producer, Max Rael has collaborated with Fish (Marillion), Last July, Kommand + Kontrol, Freudstein and Bienheldenschafgegenstand.

A dark bouquet of minimalist synth, darkwave and spoken-word electronic pop, Rael's album introduces his compelling ‘futuretroist’ sound: an alternative sonic universe built on a unique sound design that feels at once familiar and alien. Rael recently released the video for 'Pressing Against The Glass', a danceable elegy for those who don't "belong", channelling the deep-seated ache of being an outsider.

Rael's earlier shadow-streaked 'Slightly Less Than Human' is a nervy electronic track with a great hooky synth melody and spoken word vocals. Partly inspired by Japanese author Osamu Dazai. Lyrically, Max Rael relays his feeling of being somehow different from the rest of the human race, while the non-album B-side 'When the Only Winning Move Is Not to Play' relates to the 1983 film "War Games" and the book 'The Games People Play' by Eric Berne.

Max Rael's debut single 'Brighter Future', released in April, explores avoidant strategies of coping with life in a seemingly increasingly chaotic and unsafe world and an anticipated dystopian future. The B-side 'The People We Love Have Won (Persistence Is All)' is darker, named after Coil's 2000 London performance at The Royal Festival Hall (which he also tattooed on the inside of Rael's left wrist).

Spoken word, electronic music and loud drums feature strongly on the 12-track album, produced and mixed by Max Rael with additional mixing by Caden Clarkson and mastered by Pete Maher (U2, Nick Cave, Depeche Mode, Pixies. Nine Inch Nails).Fusing a range of electronic music styles with other genres, Max Rael is a master journeyman of existential exploration into humanity, self, society, reality, psychology, philosophy and the future.

'The Enemy Is Us' is out now, available from fine digital platforms, including Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, and Bandcamp.

CREDITS
Written by Max Rael
Max Rael - vocals, keyboards, guitar & programming
Caden Clarkson - guitars on 'My First Death' and 'Almost'
Produced by Max Rael
Additional production, mixing & string arrangement by Caden Clarkson
Mastered by Pete Maher
Released by Liquid Len Recording Company
'Almost' video shot by Priyanka Trivedi in Kew, UK & Abades Leper Colony, Tenerife
'Brighter Future' video by Abigail Clarkson
'Slightly Less Than Human' video by Max Rael
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR
Single cover artwork for 'Almost' by Priyanka Trivedi
Album cover artwork & photographs by Filiz Photography
Copyright @filizphotographyuk 2025 - must not be altered or sold without photographer's permission
UPC / EAN no. 199199781569

Keep up with Max Rael

UK electronic whiz Max Rael shares 'Pressing Against The Glass', showcasing debut album

August 17, 2025

British electronic artist Max Rael presents 'Pressing Against The Glass', a danceable elegy for the unbelonging. Capturing the deep-seated ache of being on the outside, this is a soundtrack for those who feel eternally separated from the warmth and safety they can only observe.

Based in Hertfordshire, Max Rael is a key creative force in the UK underground through 1990s-2000s electro-goth trailblazers History Of Guns, frontrunners of the Wasp Factory / FuturePunk scene, and Decommissioned Forests. Here, he showcases his singular talents on this record, featuring unique twists on sound design and his acclaimed outsider lyrical perspectives. Musician, writer, actor, engineer and producer, Max Rael has collaborated with Fish (Marillion), Last July, Kommand + Kontrol, Freudstein and Bienheldenschafgegenstand.

"I’ve always been taken by the image of someone being outside alone in the cold looking in through a window to warmth, comfort and safety that’s not for them. I was thinking of Heathcliff looking through the windows of Thrushcross Grange in "Wuthering Heights" or Frank Abagnale Jr in the film "Catch Me If You Can", outside in the snow at Christmas, unseen looking in through the window at his mother with her new family, happy and warm indoors and realising there is nowhere he belongs, and no one he belongs to," says Max Rael.

This is the latest audio-visual offering from his debut solo album 'The Enemy Is Us', released via London imprint Liquid Len Media. Offering up a dark bouquet of minimalist synth, darkwave and spoken-word electronic pop, this album introduces Rael’s compelling ‘futuretroist’ sound: an alternative sonic universe built on a unique sound design that feels at once familiar and alien.

Rael's powerful and thought-provoking spoken-word lyrics confronts a world in freefall—its corruption, alienation, and misery. The result seemingly effortlessly conflates a painfully personal portrait of an interior world, with an achingly universal depiction of society and the world outside. He still unearths a resilient core of hope and gallows humour that burns brightly through the darkness, offering a complex and compelling take on the human condition.

Earlier, Max Rael released the poignant shadow-streaked 'Slightly Less Than Human', a nervy electronic track with a great hooky synth melody and spoken word vocals. Partly inspired by Japanese author Osamu Dazai. Lyrically, Max Rael relays his feeling of being somehow different from the rest of the human race, while the non-album B-side 'When the Only Winning Move Is Not to Play' relates to the 1983 film "War Games" and the book 'The Games People Play' by Eric Berne.

In April, Max Rael shared his spoken-word electronic pop song 'Brighter Future', where he questions avoidant strategies of coping with life in a seemingly increasingly chaotic and unsafe world and queries how can we reverse course from an anticipated dystopian future. The B-side 'The People We Love Have Won (Persistence Is All)' is a darker beast, named after Coil's 2000 London performance at The Royal Festival Hall, which also happens to be tattooed on the inside of Rael's left wrist.

Spoken word, electronic music and loud drums feature strongly on the 12-track album, produced and mixed by Max Rael with additional mixing by Caden Clarkson and mastered by Pete Maher (U2, Nick Cave, Depeche Mode, Pixies. Nine Inch Nails).Fusing a range of electronic music styles with other genres, Max Rael is a master journeyman of existential exploration into humanity, self, society, reality, psychology, philosophy and the future.

'The Enemy Is Us' is out now, available from fine digital platforms, including Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, and Bandcamp.

CREDITS
Written by Max Rael
Max Rael - vocals, keyboards & programming
Caden Clarkson - guitars on 'My First Death'
Produced and mixed by Max Rael
Additional mixing by Caden Clarkson
Mastered by Pete Maher
Released by Liquid Len Recording Company
'Brighter Future' video by Abigail Clarkson
'Slightly Less Than Human' video by Max Rael
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR
Cover artwork & photographs by Filiz Photography
Copyright @filizphotographyuk 2025 - must not be altered or sold without photographer's permission
UPC / EAN no. 199199781569

Keep up with Max Rael

History of Guns' Max Rael serves up edgy electronica on 'Slightly Less Than Human'

May 21, 2025

British electronic artist Max Rael takes a dark turn with a new single 'Slightly Less Than Human', the second single foreshadowing his debut album 'The Enemy Is Us', out June 20 via London imprint Liquid Len Recording Company.

Musician, writer, actor, engineer and producer, Max Rael has remixed such artists as Fish (Marillion), Last July, Kommand + Kontrol, Freudstein and Bienheldenschafgegenstand. He is also behind electro-goth trailblazers History Of Guns, formed in Hertfordshire in 1996. Frontrunners of the Wasp Factory / FuturePunk scene of the early 2000s, 'Your Obedient Servant' was championed by The Quietus and Mick Mercer among the “thirty best goth singles of all time”.

A dark, nervy electronic track with a great hooky synth melody and spoken word vocals, 'Slightly Less Than Human' was partly inspired by Japanese author Osamu Dazai. Lyrically, the narrator relays his feeling of being somehow different from the rest of the human race and his attempts to try to understand and copy other people's ways and behaviours in order to try pass as a regular person.

The exclusive non-album B-side 'When the Only Winning Move Is Not to Play' is a reference to 1983 film "War Games" and the book 'The Games People Play' by Eric Berne.

'It's about the futility of arguing with people who have already made their minds up," says Max Rael. "It seems we're living in times of fixed dogmatic polarisation where the right to take in new information and shift your thinking can be seen as somehow lacking integrity. I'm also a big fan of that Timothy Leary quote, "You are only as young as the last time you changed your mind."'

In April, Max Rael released his spoken-word electronic pop song 'Brighter Future', where he questions avoidant strategies of coping with life in a seemingly increasingly chaotic and unsafe world and queries how can we reverse course from an anticipated dystopian future.

The non-album B-side 'The People We Love Have Won (Persistence Is All)' is a darker beast, named after Coil's 2000 London performance at The Royal Festival Hall, which also happens to be tattooed on the inside of Rael's left wrist.

Spoken word, electronic music and loud drums can all be expected on the impending 12-track album, produced and mixed by Max Rael with additional mixing by Caden Clarkson and mastered by Pete Maher (U2, Nick Cave, Depeche Mode, Pixies. Nine Inch Nails). Fusing a range of electronic music styles with other genres, Max Rael is a master journeyman of existential exploration into humanity, self, society, reality, psychology, philosophy and the future.

"This is a song about not feeling like a proper person, feeling slightly less than human. I was always one of those kids who felt very different and alien from everyone else, patiently waiting for the spaceship to finally arrive and take me home to my people. The lyrics have taken on a deeper significance for me personally since being diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder after they were written which has given me a new context for some of the struggles I've had with life," says Max Rael.

"In keeping with the first video, I've decided not to use AI, CGI, filters etc. and filmed all the lighting effects live in the room. It's not that I'm particularly anti-AI. I've used it in the past. More that it just felt a good time to put it down for a while and do a project without it. The b-side, When the Only Winning Move Is Not to Play, was originally slated for the album, but didn't really fit with the flow of the rest of the tracks, so it became orphaned, and has now found a home here."

As of May 21, 'Slightly Less Than Human' is available from fine digital platforms, including Amazon, and also directly from the artist via Bandcamp, where 'Brighter Future' can also be found. 'The Enemy Is Us' album will be released on June 20 via Liquid Len Recording Company.

CREDITS
Written by Max Rael
Produced, performed and mixed by Max Rael
Additional mixing by Caden Clarkson
Mastered by Pete Maher
Released by Liquid Len Recording Company
'Brighter Future' video by Abigail Clarkson
'Slightly Less Than Human' video by Max Rael
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR
Cover artwork & photographs by Filiz Photography
Copyright @filizphotographyuk - must not be altered or sold without photographer's permission

Keep up with Max Rael
Max Rael Music | Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | Twitter| BlueSky | Apple Music | Spotify | Amazon | History of Guns website | Press contact

UK electronic artist Max Rael presents 'Brighter Future', teasing debut album 'The Enemy Is Us'

April 23, 2025

British electronic artist Max Rael has announced the forthcoming album 'The Enemy Is Us', his debut solo effort, out in June via London imprint Liquid Len Recording Company, preceded by a traditional A / B side single 'Brighter Future'.

An alternative electronic pop song with spoken word vocals, 'Brighter Future' questions avoidant strategies of coping with life in a seemingly increasingly chaotic and unsafe world and queries how can we reverse course from an anticipated dystopian future.

The non-album B-side 'The People We Love Have Won (Persistence Is All)' is a darker beast, named after Coil's 2000 London performance at The Royal Festival Hall, which also happens to be tattooed on the inside of Rael's left wrist.

Spoken word, electronic music and loud drums can all be expected on the impending 12-track album, produced and mixed by Max Rael with additional mixing by Caden Clarkson and mastered by Pete Maher (U2, Nick Cave, Depeche Mode, Pixies. Nine Inch Nails). Fusing a range of electronic music styles with other genres, Max Rael is a master journeyman of existential exploration into humanity, self, society, reality, psychology, philosophy and the future.

"Whilst I naturally tend to be drawn towards darker and more melancholy themes, sometimes creativity needs to be a reaction to the world around us. I felt I needed to take some creative responsibility, and not push more negativity out into a world that already feels like its drowning, like kicking somebody when they're already down," says Max Rael.

"While it's natural, and sometimes necessary, to explore difficult realities through art, and I've done my share of that, I believe there's also a vital role for artists and dreamers to imagine and articulate possibilities for hope and improvement. Drawing inspiration from John Higgs's thought-provoking ideas, where in 1977 it was a defiant and shocking statement when The Sex Pistols said, ‘No Future’, today perhaps the true rebellion involves standing up and saying, ‘Yes Future’… A Brighter Future."

Musician, writer, actor, engineer and producer, Max Rael has remixed such artists as Fish (Marillion), Last July, Kommand + Kontrol, Bienheldenschafgegenstand and Freudstein. He is also behind electro-goth trailblazers History Of Guns, formed in Hertfordshire in 1996. Frontrunners of the Wasp Factory / FuturePunk scene of the early 2000s, their single 'Your Obedient Servant' was championed by The Quietus and Mick Mercer among the “thirty best goth singles of all time”.

Renowned for their meta-modernist Industrial sound, 2024 saw the release of their 'Half Light' album, their eighth record to date and second since 2022's return from a ten-year hiatus. They also kicked off 2025 with the single 'Little Miss Suicide (25)', marking 25th years since releasing their debut single.

As of April 22, 'Brighter Future' is available from fine digital platforms, including Amazon, and also directly from the artist via Bandcamp. The full album 'The Enemy Is Us' will be released on June 20 via Liquid Len Recording Company.

CREDITS
Written by Max Rael
Produced, performed and mixed by Max Rael
Additional mixing by Caden Clarkson
Mastered by Pete Maher
Released by Liquid Len Recording Company
Cover artwork & photographs by Filiz Photography
Video by Abigail Clarkson
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR

Keep up with Max Rael