Amir Alexander - The Deepness

  • Vintage American house beamed in from another galaxy.
  • Share
  • Amir Alexander started off in the late '00s making Chicago house with hints of Detroit. But lately, the Malmö transplant has been exploring more minimal sounds for labels like Thomas Melchior's My King Is Light, where he's stripped his rich house sound to its skeleton. His latest release on Smallville splits the difference between his US and European influences. The stand-out is "The Deepness," which, as the name might suggest, is all vintage New York soul and dusty drum programming. But there's a bit of afterparty flair with some clever EQing—the chords to sound like they're barely being picked up on an AM radio transmitter—alongside vocals that have been processed into obliviona. It's a perfect balance between human soul and alien funk.
RA