While Maria Schneider's last album, the critically acclaimed The Thompson Fields, came in pastel shades, reflective moods and a wistful evocation of an idealised ‘Heimat’; Data Lords, in contrast, releases what Schneider calls her “inner beast”.

It contains her most powerful writing yet – the ominous rising tension of the title track, the dark, brooding ‘A World Lost’ or the powerful ‘Don't Be Evil’. It's an album raised in protest at the steadily accumulating power of the seemingly unaccountable data lords – Google, YouTube, the social media giants and the music streaming services who believe music should be ‘free’ and so barely reward what they call the ‘content producers’, i.e., the musicians. This is Schneider's first vinyl release, a double LP package and on the second album she celebrates switching off her devices, letting her brain recover from the constant bombardment of the information age to celebrate the simple things in life – space, silence, the earth and the sky. Quite simply, this is a classic, music that will be played, studied and enjoyed for decades to come.