Dave Saved - Abisso (2021)

Next on YOUTH: Dave Saved with a long awaited debut album proper, a flickering, woozy set of atmospheric low-burners that draws lines between that recently reissued rEAGENZ pearl from Move D and Jonah Sharp, the tripped-out world-building of Gescom’s late night Disengage sessions, thru to the crackling, nostalgic embers of Burial and 0PN’s vaporous throwbacks, bleeding with a rarified, timeless poignance.

As far as this stuff goes; Abisso is about as good as it gets, aligning twelve variegated tracks united by hypnagogic themes crafted with attention to tone designed for optimal immersion in its almost amniotic fantasy scapes. It’s a nostalgic listen for sure, tapping into that primal obsession electronic music has had with technology, science fiction and futurism since its earliest iterations, but rendered here with enough modern materials and a forward facing disposition to save it from feeling overly anchored to the past.

The album moves at a dreamlike pace between the gently curdled lather of ‘Voices’ and the cosmic synth starlight of ‘Nella Notte’ (In The Night); passing from the noctilucent cloud structures of its gorgeous title track to the screwed thizz of ‘Collapsing Patterns,’ taking in the romantic swoon of ‘No name, about cities and red lips,’ along with what sounds like The Humble Bee meets BoC on ’Stanza 2,’ and a slippery, compressed take on early ‘90s chill out room sensuality with ‘Red Storm,’ while ‘Hands’ and ‘Soffio Del Clelo’ bring the album’s final section in orbit of 0PN’s sounds, both his KGBMan edits and soundtrack styles to come.

Lovers of atmospheric, classic electronic music from early BoC to Nimlook’s FAX transmissions to FSOL and 0PN should jump in without delay.