Wonderful Tempo is a relatively accurate title. On his latest record, Joe Davies delivers wonderfully precise and functional deep house, ideally tempered for the dancefloor. After his debut album Shields in Full Sunlight came with colourful timbres, unexpected turns and buoyant melodies, Wonderful Tempo lives from a mobile structure in which atmosphere and groove constantly readjust themselves.
The basis for this is a consistently precise tension in which one can quickly lose oneself: »Ton, Scheine, Sterben« keeps its forward groove stable throughout, while dub-infused spaces and somnambulant textures slowly blur the contours. On »Something on My Mind«, too, the deep groove remains present. Above it, the arrangement feels somewhat looser and more fluid, as though it were gradually being assembled. Again and again, the frame opens up and brings relaxation, before deliberate blurring and small irritations give the groove free rein.
Wonderful Tempo does not arrive with grand gestures. Rather, what makes it special is its sovereign control, combined with a targeted scattering of unforeseen details. A record that does not impose itself, but convinces in its concentrated, club-oriented form.
Wonderful Tempo
