- Samuel Andre Madsen has been making music for a few years now, but it's only in the last 18 months or so that the Danish producer has, as S.A.M., forged a distinctive sound. Delaphine, a label he set up in 2013, has released his most interesting work: meditative dub techno records and the occasional flirtation with tech house and Autonomic-style drum & bass.
Madsen's third Delaphine release is a 30-minute swell of yearning horns, field recordings and gently heaving synths. Apparently inspired by the transfiguration of Christ and an icon that depicts the event (Madsen was studying theology when recording this EP), Delaphine 003 radiates an appropriately austere yet beautiful atmosphere. A flapping wing is the track's only discernible rhythmic device; otherwise, its gaseous hum of birdsong and orchestra-aided grandeur floats serenely on.
The EP's religious reference will almost certainly be lost on people who don't know its context, and, in truth, this probably doesn't matter too much. What's clear is that Delaphine 003 is a deeply personal record—Madsen grew up playing music in churches and gospel choir—and the strength of feeling is reflected in the record's poise.
TracklistA1 Untitled
B1 Untitled