Dave Pezzner has kept a pretty low profile so far throughout his career. Honing his production skills steadily and subtlety, we were given the impression that the Seattle based artist was a relative newcomer to the world of electronic music. Although that is partially true, in that he is proportionally fresh to deep house specifically, he has been producing music for TV, advertising and games for over fifteen years now. He has also been putting out electronic music as Jacob London with Bob Hansen for years. However, The Tracks Are Alive, his fourth overall release for Jimpster’s Freerange imprint, is Pezzner’s first LP. Whilst exploring a very local sound, the Seattleite treads the line between a rich, disco influenced sound and a more hypnotic, modern house sound. All of the tracks are previously unreleased except “Almost Here Part 3” which was included on his debut EP in 2008.

The record is in drenched in the wet, soggy and rainy atmospheres of his Seattle home. Infused with the sense of melancholy that is inherent with grey drizzle, the album is deep and evocative without ever straying into the depressive tendencies of the city’s grunge scene that prevailed throughout the late 80s and 90s. Moments like Larissa Kapp’s sweet and reassuring vocals on “Find Me” and the contented, soulful deep house of “Dewolfe” are perfect examples of his ability to flood a track with colour. We see the rainy moodiness in tracks like “Hunt & Gather” where woozy synths conjure the image of morning drizzle, and on tracks such as “Almost Here Part 3,” “Blacklist” and “Philip (Parts 1 & 2)” where clever percussion is used to enact the sound of rain smattering the ceilings and windows. We also see some tougher, more club orientated numbers in “The Tracks Are Alive” and “Chiuso Per Ferie” whereas tracks like “Drones”, “Tagschlaf” and “Last Call” all explore a thoughtful and emotionally stirring kind of down tempo electronica.

Review: Tom Jones