‘Places’ arrives today, December 5th, 2025, marking another sharp turn in the ascent of Textbook Maneuver, the project of Bronx-born, New Jersey-based composer Michael Keane. His run through the experimental electronic world has accelerated quickly: nearly 150,000 streams across platforms, a celebrated µ-Ziq remix of ‘Adrenaline Slip’ premiering via Wonderland Magazine, and coverage from Magnetic Magazine, Illustrate Magazine, WWAM, Music For All, and Good Music Radar. His debut album Adrenaline Slip (2025) positioned him as a rare IDM voice with both technical command and emotional focus, earning early comparisons to Jon Hopkins and Nils Frahm, while echoing the influence of Boards of Canada and Aphex Twin. With roots in classical piano and a DIY background shaped by prog and synth-driven icons like Genesis, Rush, Gary Numan, The Postal Service, U.N.K.L.E., and Phantogram, Keane has built a sound that resists strict classification yet feels instantly identifiable.
On ‘‘Places’’, Keane leans deeper into IDM’s textural language. The track moves with a quiet atmosphere, its opening piano keys accompanied by brain tickling electronic synths , carrying the grain of analog warmth before spilling into more expansive layers. Subtle percussion brush against the synth work, giving the piece a patient momentum. The influence of ambient-leaning electronica shows up in the track’s core, giving the overall listening experience an existential cinematic feel.
Textbook Maneuver shared: “If you ever have walked through the corridors of a music school, you will hear piano and other instruments resonating from a distance or from behind walls and doors. This past October, I had just finished releasing some projects and took a break to write something new. As I was composing, I had feelings of nostalgia, echoes of the past, places I have been, walking through music school halls, etc and they all came together into ‘Places’. I used effects and distortion to bring out that nostalgia. I then went through some old photos from places I have been to create the simple collage for the cover art.”
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