DJ SABRINA THE TEENAGE DJ - The Makin’ Magick II Album

Ever since "Makin' Magick" saw the light of day four years ago, not a season has gone by without the mysterious DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ releasing an album, swiftly cementing a discography with an outsized running time. It was to be expected that 2021 would bring something new too, though not quite two albums on the very same day, for a combined length of over four hours. There's no denying the producer's work ethic is astonishing, and while the pandemic context surely helps, being able to fill and diversify so much time remains a feat in itself. Fully in keeping with the thematic thread of the previous five-album run, yet already looking toward new horizons, "The Makin' Magick II Album" and "The Other Realm" (discussed in another article) remain faithful to the author's syncretic house vision, while equipping it with new tools and new horizons to aim for. Especially in the follow-up to that debut which opened up such a personal path to dance storytelling, a hint of fatigue starts to creep in.

While this holds true for projects of a far more orthodox length, for a sprawling experience like "Makin' Magick II" pacing — the management of tension and release, explosiveness and suspension — is a fundamental element, under penalty of an imbalance that proves fatal. In truth, this is an aspect that has never failed to shine on DJ Sabrina's albums, something the mighty build-ups of a "Charmed" attest to with examples aplenty. And yet perhaps here, for the first time, one senses how much less convincing the distribution is, how the dosage of moods and colors might have benefited from a more careful arrangement. Not that our magical DJ has lost her touch in such a short time: the beats of "Be Ready" are as snappy as the title suggests, and the hypnotic melodicism of "Paradise" adapts well to the track's more outsider-leaning frames. And yet, throughout the first half of the project, what's missing is the spark, the driving thread that strings the tracks together into a cohesive experience, an organic sonic narrative.

There's no doubt DJ Sabrina worked on this and built the record following a coherent inner path, though this time around the sense of progression lands less effectively than on other occasions.

This is certainly not a bad record, let's be clear: DJ Sabrina's knowledge and expertise, her ability to lend emotional three-dimensionality to tracks that often lack any real vocal anchor, remain plain to see. "Being Alone" conveys its melancholic, reflective nature well, even within a euro-house construction that oozes euphoria, if not an intoxicating sense of vertigo. And the sitar touches woven into the bizarre hip-hop cadence that opens "Love Is The Purest Thing There Is" work as an excellent variation and a confident counterpart to a universe that's always been appreciated, but had yet to carve out such a wide space for itself. Not to mention the glittering Chicago-style nervousness of "Can't Help Myself Tonight", Fingers Inc. and Inner City embraced by a moving piano ostinato, or the future-funk surges of "I'll Never Stop", a genuine explosion of enthusiasm, which the use of samples knows how to imbue with just the right pop sensibility.

The reality, though, is that the producer's magic shines here more on the single-track level than in the overall vision, and that had the energy level sustained in the second half carried through the whole project, the experience would have gained in momentum. No great loss, though — the sister album has plenty of magnetism of its own; perhaps the secret to good magic is just a touch more condensation?

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17/01/2022