Sixteen years after his debut album, Hamburg’s Peter Kersten, a.k.a. Lawrence, hasn’t changed his tune one whit: He’s still making stripped-back deep house with minimalist inclinations and a moody spirit. But on Illusion, his first LP since 2016’s Yoyogi Park (and his first for Dial in five years), he sounds unusually focused. All nine tracks dig into heads-down, toe-scuffing grooves, hi-hats flashing like knives in the darkness; all nine tracks share the same ultra-low bass throb and milky synths. On the blissed-out end of things, “Flaunting High” floats on billowing, pastel-colored pads; “Transitions” is darker and more menacing, with bell tones shimmering above a coiled electro groove. It’s as cohesive a house-music long-player as you could ask for—an invitation to slip inside a dreamworld and linger.
- 2016
- Carsten Jost
- Move D & Benjamin Brunn
- John Tejada
- Julius Steinhoff