Five years after his critically acclaimed debut Drone Logic, London-based producer Daniel
Avery has announced the release of his highly anticipated second album Song For Alpha, set
for release on 6th April 2018, via Phantasy.
In the years since his debut, Avery has helmed a DJ-Kicks mix CD, resided over a monthly radio
show for NTS Live, curated an extensive remix compilation and collaborated on a series of side-
projects including a recent release with Nine Inch Nails synth specialist Alessandro Cortini; he
has toured relentlessly, cementing a reputation as one of the defining techno DJs of the decade.
He has also worked studiously on what he wanted to say next as a producer.
Song For Alpha is Avery’s exploration of the space in which home listening and club music
intersect, in no small part inspired by his transient life spent between nightclubs, flights, the
passenger seats of cars and hotel rooms. He confirms, “Drone Logic’s spiritual home was the
dancefloor. This record’s is definitely the road. Those late nights and hazy mornings, finding
inspiration beyond the fog.”
With newfound energy and time to develop, Avery’s sonic vocabulary has expanded. Here, the
booming sound of the big room is brilliantly countered by the music of the small hours. Where
celestial ambient lullabies ‘First Light’ and ‘Days From Now’ sit perfectly next to the mesmeric
techno assault of ‘Diminuendo’ and ‘Sensation’; where both ‘Projector’ and ‘Clear’ evoke early
rave records, only ones engulfed by waves of beautiful cyclonic distortion. Much like his recent
excursions with Cortini, Song For Alpha sees Avery take his signature psychedelic-electronic
sound to new dimensions, a sound that plays to the head as much as the body.
“I’ve become increasingly interested in those moments in a club when the outside world
becomes little more than an inconsequential thought at the back of your head. Eyes closed as
opposed to hands in the air. A light emerging from the darkness - this is the idea I repeatedly
returned to in the studio. The more time you spend with it the deeper you fall. Close your eyes,
press repeat.”
