Michael Robinson, working under the alias iNFO, returns with Sorry I Didn’t Realise, a full‑length release on the ever‑adventurous Touched Music. Robinson has occasionally gravitated toward the stranger corners of electronic composition, and this album arrives as a confident declaration of his command of that territory. Touched Music, long known for championing artists who push electronic music into new shapes, has built a catalog that rewards curiosity, and Robinson fits into that lineage with an ease that suggests he has been orbiting this label’s aesthetic gravity for years.
The album’s title hints at a kind of sideways self‑reflection, but the music is anything but hesitant. iNFO’s approach is meticulous, playful, and deeply rooted in the exploratory ethos that has defined Touched Music since its earliest releases. The label’s history of supporting boundary‑stretching electronic musicians gives this album a fitting home, and Robinson uses that freedom to construct something that is both referential and unmistakably his.
This is a record whose roots are deep in the experimental core of IDM’s so-called ‘Second Wave’, circa ‘96 to ‘02. Robinson draws from that era’s adventurous spirit, but refuses to imitate it. Instead, he channels the energy of those years into something personal, something that carries the spark of that time without parroting its vocabulary. The result is an album that stands in conversation with the past while refusing to be defined by it.
Listeners familiar with Robinson’s earlier full‑length as FACTSIMILE on Dyadik will immediately recognize the connective tissue. That album’s warped melodies, restless percussion, and delight in structural mischief all reappear here, sharpened and expanded. The Dyadik release established Robinson as someone who could twist Braindance into wicked new shapes without losing anything in the experiment. Sorry I Didn’t Realise continues that trajectory with even greater confidence, as though the FACTSIMILE project was vital stepping-stone on the way to this latest IDM masterpiece.
The opening trio of tracks sets the tone with remarkable clarity. “I Missed It While It Was Happening” launches the album with a wonderfully odd melodic line and clicky‑clacky-glitchy-driven drums that snap and scatter in classic braindance fashion. “Too Late To Ask Why” shifts between ambient drift and hyperactive percussion, its snare fills ricocheting through the mix while the melody hovers in a dreamlike haze. “I Thought I Understood” brightens the palette with airy synth stabs and a gentle rhythmic pulse, a kinetic and summery piece that shows Robinson’s ability to balance experimentation with melodic charm.
The next stretch of the album dives deeper into the crooked, off‑balance world Robinson constructs so well. “Reading The Room Wrong” and “Context I Didn’t Have” share a mysterious detuned‑pluck motif, each track unfolding with metallic hits, nervous bass movements, and ghostly pads that shimmer behind the busier elements. “Apologies I Didn’t Rehearse” becomes the album’s wild card, beginning with a detuned lead and stuttering percussion before mutating into an entirely different composition driven by sub‑bass and intricately wonked-out percussive work. After a long silence, the original groove returns as if nothing happened, a brilliant sleight of hand that stands as one of the album’s most memorable moments.
The final third of the record explores more atmospheric territory without losing the rhythmic inventiveness that dazzled in the earlier tracks. “This Makes Sense In Retrospect” drifts through ambient textures while maintaining a downtempo IDM backbone. “You Were Clearer Than I Was” introduces heavily glitched percussion and detuned pads that stretch and warp, creating a disjointed, dream‑state environment. “You Paused, I Didn’t” leans into strangeness with its broken melody and shifting bass focus, while “I Really Shouldn’t Have Come” brings in breakbeat drums, pitch‑shifted vocal snippets, and a plucky synth line that keeps the track wallowing happily in its own eccentric logic. The title track closes the album with deep‑bass kicks, clipped arpeggios, and a calm melodic center that guides you out of the sonic labyrinth Robinson has created.
Sorry I Didn’t Realise is available digitally and as a glass‑mastered Compact Disc shipped directly from Touched Music, a format choice that suits the album’s meticulous construction. It is astonishing how deftly Robinson taps into the quintessential essence of that era’s sound while producing something that in no way resembles a relic. This album is alive, inventive, and unmistakably new. If this is the direction Robinson continues to explore, the next chapter of his braindance output as iNFO cannot arrive soon enough.
Sorry I Didn’t Realise by iNFO was released 1 May 2026 on Touched Music