On June 20, 2025, AESTHETIC Perfection mastermind Daniel Graves unleashed his painstakingly reconstructed new version of the debut album ‘Close to Human’ that was originally released two decades ago in 2005. Depended Records is also releasing premium physical versions of the album.AESTHETIC Perfection commented: “After 20 years, my debut album ‘Close to Human’ is back, but not as you remember it”, the composer, lyricist and vocalist Daniel Graves explained. “In 2006, a catastrophic hard drive failure led me to believe the album was lost forever. For years, I thought I’d never be able to perform these songs live again with the same energy, soul, and impact of the original 2005 release.
But in 2024, everything changed. After hunting down all the original hardware and samples, I made the decision to painstakingly reconstruct the album from the ground up. This isn’t just a remaster - it’s a resurrection. Beat for beat, note for note. ‘Close to Human’ lives again as ‘Closer to Human’. For the physical release, I’ve partnered with Dependent Records to create deluxe packaging unlike anything we’ve ever done with AESTHETIC PERFECTION.”
Tracklist
01. Human
02. Belong
03. Beautiful
04. Surface
05. Fix
06. Overcast
07. Master
08. Architect
09. Sacrifice
10. Coward
AESTHETIC PERFECTION were founded by the American musician Daniel Graves in Hollywood, Los Angeles in the millennium year 2000. When their debut album ‘Close to Human’ hit the electronic scene, it became an immediate success and laid the foundation for an exceptional career.
Sadly, the pitfalls of modern technology meant that the original files of ‘Close to Human’ got lost in an apocalyptic hardware failure in 2006. Obviously, this loss remained a thorn in the side of the mastermind of AESTHETIC PERFECTION. In 2024, Daniel Graves decided it was time to recreate the album and gathered all the original hardware and samples to painstakingly rebuild the debut track by track.
Although the result closely resembles the debut, it was never a possibility and probably not even a good idea to just create a clone. Years of musical experience also factored in and therefore Graves dubbed the result ‘Closer to Human’ to mark both the continuity as well as the difference in the title.
Following the debut, AESTHETIC PERFECTION went on to release eight acclaimed studio albums and also started to perform live, sharing stages with other scene favourites such as COVENANT, COMBICHRIST, and MESH to name but a few. Soon headliner shows followed that turned into sold out events in 2016.
The music of AESTHETIC PERFECTION has been described as Aggrotech and Future Pop among other stylistic designations, while Daniel Graves started using the term Industrial Pop to describe his music in 2017. In 2020, AESTHETIC PERFECTION supported the band of RAMMSTEIN frontman Till Lindemann, which was a massive success and will therefore be repeated by LINDEMANN in the autumn of 2025.
Before that happens, it is time to revisit the earliest days of AESTHETIC PERFECTION both live on stage in Europe and the USA and with the reconstructed debut album ‘Closer to Human’ in the summer of 2025.
‘Closer to Human’ will be available as ltd. 2CD DigiPak with bonus CD incl. ‘Lost Master’ by Mike Wells (Gridlock) & 4 remixes (1,000 copies), DigiPak CD, and ltd. red vinyl LP. Get the album HERE.
Festival Dates
04 Jul 2025 - Halle (DE) Eastside Festival
05 Jul 2025 - Mülheim (DE) Castle Rock Open Air
10 Jul 2025 - Bolków (PL) Castle Party
Source: Press Release
