CritiquesAmbient

JEROME FROESE — Sunsets in Stereo

Clouds, Ghosts, and Sunsets. Where Hearts Belong. Under Endless Skies.

Jerome Froese has always lived between worlds. As the son of Tangerine Dream founder Edgar Froese, his musical DNA is inseparably tied to the genesis of electronic music, yet his own path has never been about inheritance. Since the early 1990s, he has been shaping a sound entirely his own — a dialogue between machines and guitar strings, between sequenced precision and atmospheric resonance. This hybrid approach, which he calls Guitartronica, is both a philosophy and a signature: the guitar as rhythm, texture, and atmosphere as much as melody, fusing with electronic structures in ways that defy conventional genre borders.

His chapter with Tangerine Dream, spanning from 1990 to 2006, represents the band’s most commercially successful era. As primary composer for many international productions, he helped drive the group to seven consecutive GRAMMY nominations, more than 1.5 million albums sold, and long-running Billboard Top 10 placements in the United States. His guitar-infused soundscapes pushed Tangerine Dream into new territory, balancing the expansive architecture of sequencers with an emotional edge that resonated far beyond electronic circles.

Away from the group, Jerome has continued to explore uncharted sonic terrain. His solo discography now includes three studio albums, numerous EPs, and remixes, each extending the possibilities of Guitartronica. His collaborative spirit has led him to work with a wide spectrum of artists — from Claudia Brücken & Susanne Freytag (Propaganda) to Andy Bell (Erasure), Marty Willson-Piper (The Church, All About Eve), Demis Roussos (Aphrodite’s Child), and fellow Tangerine Dream alumnus Johannes Schmoelling. With Schmoelling, Froese co-founded LOOM, a project that wove classic Tangerine Dream textures into modern frameworks and earned particular acclaim for its powerful live performances.

His connection to Tangerine Dream is not only musical but also deeply personal. Much of the band’s visual legacy was captured through the lens of his mother, Monika Froese, who accompanied the group across decades and documented its transformations with rare intimacy. Through her work, Jerome carries not just the sound but also the imagery of Tangerine Dream’s history as part of his heritage.

Now, in 2025, Jerome Froese embarks on his soon-to-be-released latest horizon. Sunsets in Stereo unfolds as a work shaped by resilience, reflection, and hope — a luminous expansion of his signature sound, infused with textures and influences that traverse genre boundaries. Across ten tracks, it flows like the fading light of sunset, a delicate balance of emotion and architecture. Froese’s signature Guitartronica weaves shimmering guitar lines into the fabric of sequenced electronics, creating a world that feels both intimate and vast. Each track is a landscape, moving effortlessly from reflective, ambient passages to moments charged with subtle rock energy, as if time itself stretches and contracts within the music.

There is a quiet poetry in the way melodies unfold — a sense of resilience threaded through every chord, every texture. Delicate influences emerge, yet it remains unmistakably Froese — music that understands complexity without losing its sense of grace, finding beauty amid movement, tension, and release.

As a lifelong fan of both Tangerine Dream and Froese’s solo work, this album was worth every moment of anticipation — and unveils every ounce of its promise. Like a dream in sound, carrying you through evening stars, exploring vast, virtual fields, following paths that flow like rivers of light, drifting through diamonds and dust, and glimpsing sunsets from distant skies. I would go even further: beyond ‘sunsets in stereo’, these are sunsets that will magically spill their evening glow through your speakers.

Mark your calendars for October 31, 2025!

Jerome Froese | Bandcamp
Jerome Froese | Official Website