Album of the Week: Daphni - Cherry

Dan Snaith’s influence on modern electronic music is undeniable. Starting his career as Manitoba, an alias that quickly changed to the now beloved Caribou, an alias responsible for five studio albums released to universal acclaim and having a long-lasting impact on the alternative electronic musical landscape. 

When he’s not in Caribou mode, you can find Dan Snaith crafting more club-oriented sounds as Daphni, with 2012’s Jiaolong and 2017’s Joli Mai LPs exciting dance floors and headphones the world over, with his house-and-disco oriented, genre-melding cuts of experimental yet accessible dance music. 

Five years on from Joli Mai, we’re blessed with a new Daphni full-length in the form of the idiosyncratic, vibe filled LP that is Cherry. Taking his time with the new LP, Cherry was crafted over a number of years, with reactions in the club informing decisions as both he and other DJs road tested cuts in a live environment to gauge feedback. Snaith elaborates saying “Surprisingly, some of the more delicate, melodic tracks worked just as well in a club as the title track and Arrow, which were the ones I thought would work immediately,” alluding to the fact there are a nice balance of “bangers” and more chill tracks on the record, a juxtaposition that works to great effect.

As alluded to, title track Cherry and album opener Arriow are a 1-2 punch of club ready productions, while maintaining that signature Snaith sense of exploration and melancholic euphoria. On the record’s second half, Take Two, Clavicle and Cloudy all promise to be in discerning DJs arsenals, covering driving disco sampling deep house goodness.

These more danceable cuts are balanced by a number of more boundary-pushing compositions, such as the building bleeps and bloops of Arp Blocks, washed out interlude Falling, or the harsh, industrial influenced Karplus. 

A problem often faced by producers constructing a “dance music” album is it can come across like a connection of singles rather than an album “album” - something Snaith has managed to avoid on Cherry, with a certain sense of sonic cohesion seemingly tying the sometimes quite different tracks together. I say “seemingly”, as in a refreshingly honest take, Snaith has admitted that “there isn’t anything obvious that unifies it or makes it hang together. I think it was good that it was made without worrying about any of that. I just made it.” He expands on this, explaining "It's weird that when the tracks were put in what felt like the right order it took on a new coherence where it pings quickly from one idea to the next and, at least for me, hangs together in a way that feels unified."

It hangs together in a way that feels unified for us, too, Dan, and we can’t wait for the next one.

Cherry comes not only just in time for summer, but just in time for Snaith to return to Australia in Caribou mode!

Caribou Australia 2022 Tour

Saturday, December 10 - Meredith Music Festival

Sunday, December 11 - Forum, Melbourne VIC [SOLD OUT]

Monday, December 12 - Forum, Melbourne VIC [NEW SHOW TIX HERE]

Tuesday, December 13 - Enmore Theatre, Sydney NSW [TIX HERE]

Thursday, December 15 - Tivoli, Brisbane, QLD [TIX HERE]

Friday, December 16 - The Nightquarter, Sunshine Coast, QLD [TIX HERE]

The best of the rest of this week's records:

Broken Bells - INTO THE BLUE [AWAL] USA

Alternative / Indie

Dayglow - People In Motion [AWAL] USA

Indie / Pop

Dungen - En Ar For Mycket Och Tusen Aldrig Nog [Mexican Summer] SWE

Psych Rock

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Ice, Death, Plantes, Lungs, Mushrrom And Lava [KGLW] AUS

Psych Rock

Keiji Haino + Sumac - Into This Juvenile Apocalypse Our Golden Blood To Pour Let Us Never [Thrill Jockey] JAP/USA/CAN

Metal / Experimental

Open Mike Eagle - Component System with the Auto Reverse [Auto Reverse] USA

Hip Hop

Sorry - Anywhere But Here [Domino Recording Co] ENG

Alternative / Indie

TSHA - Capricorn Sun [Ninja Tune] ENG

Electronic