Released on December 5th, 2025, ‘Places’ marks another strong entry from Textbook Maneuver, the project led by Bronx-born, New Jersey-based composer Michael Keane. The single arrives after a major moment for the project: a µ-Ziq remix of ‘Adrenaline Slip’, premiered by Wonderland Magazine, which helped broaden Keane’s reach across the IDM and experimental electronic landscape. Coverage from Magnetic Magazine, Illustrate Magazine, WWAM, Music For All, and Good Music Radar has kept his debut album Adrenaline Slip in steady circulation, framing Keane as one of the scene’s new boundary-pushers.
Keane brings classical training and a restless, DIY sensibility into the Textbook Maneuver identity. He folds influences spanning Genesis, Rush, Gary Numan, The Postal Service, U.N.K.L.E., and Phantogram into a sound that shifts between patient ambient spaces and the sharper contours of IDM. His approach leans toward improvisation and experimentation, with critics noting affinities to Jon Hopkins, Nils Frahm, Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin, and Autechre, though Keane keeps his work anchored in direct emotional expression.
‘Places’ starts with a solitary piano line that feels like it’s drifting from another room. Textures gather around it in subtle layers, building depth without crowding the mix. Low, reflective drums move the track forward in quiet pulses, guiding it toward an ending that settles into a darker, more atmospheric glow. The track stands out for how it weaves IDM detail into an ambient-leaning frame. Instead of leaning on the usual rhythmic contortions, Keane uses IDM’s precision to shape space and texture. The result feels exploratory, showing how electronic composition can stretch when it’s driven by curiosity rather than strict structure.
Textbook Maneuver revealed: “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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