Model 500 – I See The Light / Pick Up The Flow

Marking three decades since its quiet arrival, Model 500’s long-overlooked comet returns — a timeless transmission bridging late-’80s electro futurism and the deep, dawning hues of early-’90s Detroit techno.

One of the more remote yet radiant points in the Metroplex constellation, Juan Atkins’ 1993 outing explores the introspective, stargazing dimension of Motor City machine soul. ‘I See The Light’ sends his trademark vocoder drifting through sleek, aerodynamic grooves — a lucid counterpoint to his late-’80s electro canon, laced with ‘Clear’-style arpeggios and gauzy, dreamlike choral pads that cool the energy between heavier club detonations.

‘Pick Up the Flow’ steers closer to the deep-techno continuum he was sculpting in tandem with Moritz Von Oswald, still coursing with electro undercurrents. Its first act glides on serene pads and reflective vocals, before bending eastward into more exotic, modal motifs — the sound of Detroit gazing outward, weightless yet grounded in its groove.