A new sensation in English techno, propelled to centre stage by unanimous critical acclaim for his first album, Drone Logic, in 2013, Daniel Avery has since become a touchstone of the European dance music circuit, regularly featuring in the lineups of the continent's best clubs and festivals, and in particular the infamous London club Fabric, of which he has become one of the pillars. After four years spent enjoying his popularity on tour after tour, the Englishman has finally decided to sit still long enough to record another LP, in a studio on the Thames. And this one is the flip side to the first. “Drone Logic changed my life. I started touring, everywhere, all the time. It's great because I love mixing, but it's become harder to find the time for production."
A long way from the targeted dancefloor productions of his first outing, Song for Alpha, mixed by his mentor Erol Alkan, boss of the Phantasy label, whom he met at the famous Trash nights, starts out against an ambient backdrop, First Light, before embarking on a hypnotic, dreamlike trip on Stereo L. The kicks on Projection and Sensation take us back to a Detroit club in the 1990s, but just as quickly we are plunged back into the waters with a Brian Eno-inspired delirium on Citizen//Nowhere, Days from Now, Embers, and Quick Eternity, which closes this voyage with a virtuoso demonstration that resembles a film soundtrack. It hints at an ambition: Song for Alpha looks like a perfect visiting card for use in case of a meeting with a filmmaker. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz