Daniel Avery – Drone Logic
CD – Digital – Vinyl
Because Music/Phantasy – Released October 2013
It’s always nice when you’re right about something. As is the case here. We were expecting rather massive things from the hotly tipped Daniel Avery’s new album, and when it finally arrived big things happened in the office (well, OK, just a lot of head nodding and pausing to appreciate the soundtrack therein).
Fans of Rez-era Underworld will have plenty to get excited about in the notably filtered melodic electro hooks pervading through the tracks on Drone Logic. New Energy (Live Through It), with its soaring distorted chords and glittering synth lines immediately grabs the listener, and when combined with the breathy vocal loops borders on the euphoric. Meanwhile, earlier numbers such as Naive Response represent a similar ethic, only in more of a warm up gear than when compared with our first point of reference.
Although a far cry from hands in the air trash, those moments are contrasted with the more heads down outings such as Need Electric, a stripped stepping number of fidgety digital noises and tracking cymbals that slowly grows via atmospheric builds into a filthy affair that’s guaranteed to keep necks and shoulders jacking towards the floor for its duration. As uncomplicated as anything on here, it’s a fine example of how much damage a great arrangement, on repeat, can actually impact.
And, on a similar note, the hefty techy dub of All I Need and Simulrec sees yet more greatness emerge from a relatively sparse combination of sounds. Add to these highlights such as the opening broken beat tracks Water Jump (one for the Ivan Smagghes and Andrew Weatheralls of this world, amongst other players) along with Free Floating (which approaches early electro tones), and clearly this is an album born in 2013, but born of an ethic sorely lacking from much of today’s fodder. Boasting enough to make you go ‘what the…’, yet remaining firmly focused on the dancefloor, our new favourite LP of the year so far has apparently arrived.
