dvsn - SEPT 5TH

dvsn
SEPT 5TH
2016
Spotify

I've been saying for awhile now that R&B is going through a ground shaking shift right now. Since the days of Motown R&B hasn't done much experimenting but today each new R&B record has something fresh and exciting to bring to the table. dvsn is hard to pin down, both musically and in real life. The trio rarely perform, rarely record but when they do... holy shit. SEPTH 5TH is a triumph. From the first second that "With Me" begins you know you are in for something truly special. Blending elements of electronic and R&B, similar to Katrayanda, and blend them into this really amazing sounding tracks. You find yourself getting completely lost in this swirling world that they are creating. The thing this album does so very well is give you a chance to come to it, rather than hitting you over the head. Daniel Daley's vocals are soft yet incredibly rich. The Toronto native (who knows what they are putting in the water up there) really slides his vocals in and out just barely pressing the issue. It makes the moments that really do explode feel all the more special. dvsn are masters of the slow burn and on "In + Out" it is on full display. A lot of R&B can be sultry but this is like a whole other level of sexiness that we never knew we needed in our lives. Though the SEPT 5TH can feel very intimate at times the record as a whole comes across as very impersonal but in an oddly satisfying way.

It is also important to note that despite being signed to Drake's OVO label there is no rapping here. It could possibly fit into a couple of the songs, but the omission speaks volumes about the direction dvsn want this album to go. This is not pop, but it's also not extremely sexualized some might even call it sweet in it's approach to females. By the time you look up somehow this record has gone by without a second thought and these songs dig deep inside. Daley's falsetto is really good, but when He sings in the higher ranges at full voice, literal chills. While the raw emotion is somewhat tamped down SEPT 5TH feels like they are talking about grown up shit. This is not about some song you can freak your high school girlfriend to, this about real love, real sex and real experience. The nods to Prince and D'Angelo are right out in front of the record, but dvsn takes the baton and runs with it never relying to heavily on one set of influencers or the other. The only drawback I have been able to notice is that much of the album does stay at one level and it can be hard to differentiate one track from the next. This certainly could have been intentional to give the album a sense of a untied front. One idea going forward, but it does make a solid sit and listen somewhat monotonous. The mystery that shrouds only adds to the mystique they are able to create on this record. It's dark, it's sexy but at the very bottom of it all it's simply great.

9.1 out of 10