Der aus der Chicagoer Footworkszene stammende queere Tänzer, DJ und Producer Darryl Bunch Jr. alias Heavee bringt Mitte März sein zweites Fullength-Album “Unleash” heraus, wie bereits die EP “Audio Assault” (2022) erscheint es auf Hyperdub.

Laut Label knüpft das Album an die melodischen Synthie-Arrangenents des Vorgängers an und entwickelt diese gleichzeitig weiter in eine aufgeweckte Richtung, die mit synästhetischen Metaphern beschrieben wird: “2022’s ‘Audio Assault’ EP on Hyperdub restarted his musical journey with some synth-driven, melodic footwork, but Unleash goes much further into audio world-building with a fresh, spongy and citrusy sound palette and rich, bright chord sequences. It’s minimal, airy, balancing light and dark, sometimes breezy and sometimes clinical. Rhythmically, it’s dance floor ready,  using footwork’s 160 template as a springboard for building new drum sounds to express these rhythms. It’s also marked out by transforming footwork’s classic commanding chants into personal mantras and declarations – ‘it’s time for something different’, ‘Unleash the Freak’. ‘Make It Work’, with no time for unspecified enemies. At times, it seems to draw from R&B, rap, jazz and grime, with a sprinkling of bitter-sweet vintage Detroit techno and a resonance with ‘Pretty Ugly’ Era Scratcha DVA, but with the up-to-date palette and FXs you might hear from friends and contemporaries such as Fractal Fantasy and Suzi Analog. It’s clear that Heavee has upped his production game for Unleash and he cites studying physical modelling, modulation, and other forms of synthesis along with discussions and collaborative jams with peers that fed into the process. The album takes footworks ‘eats all’ approach to music, taking it in a fresh direction with a freedom of spirit. It’s a strong addition to the footwork cannon and shows that experiments in dance music can be fun”. Das Album erscheint als LP, CD und Download, die digitale Single “Make it Work” ist bereits erhältlich.