Joe Davies - Shields In Full Sunlight

Label: Smallville Records – smallvillelp16
Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: Germany
Released: Nov 24, 2023
Genre: Electronic
Style: Deep House

As the name goes, 'Shields In Full Sunlight' is the sound of redemption for Winter-struck sore ears. A compilation of soulful, delightfully dainty loops of sloppy summer wrapped on a disc, the Berlin-based artist Joe Davies bubbles to the surface with his deeply sublime debut album on Smallville Records.

If you are paying close attention, lucid dreamscapes of free-spirited warmth, like a desert oasis, spring into your mind in no less than a few minutes of solitary listening. In a group, if you may, expect to endorse a laid-back demeanour of a casual Sunday afternoon and doses of easy, endless lounging.

Peaking in reminiscence, the opening of the 8-track album with 'Hi Life' and 'Echo Form' is doused in thick basslines and buoyant low-key deep and dubby jams. Progressive and jittery drum pads on 'Two Hours Earth Room' float with ease, followed by its successor of flickering micro rhythms 'Smile and Wave', both personifying a groove that is a little wonky and very elegant.

The second half of the album kicks in hard with a full-body throb club heater 'Cygnus', drawn out in collaboration with Space Drum Meditation got all the right ingredients: a low-end bassline, looming amorphous synth on the top, strokes of acid and what seems like samples of recorded feminine giggles, cheeky and flirtatious. Another partnership with Johan Kaseta churns out the oh-so-lovely, glistening track 'AMY' with hazy, choppy chords, fuller beats and a nostalgic ambience, earning a grand spot in your poolside playlist.

Joe Davies's 'Shields In Full Sunlight' is a lasting adventure of long, tranquil moments, liquid-lush rhythm and kaleidoscopic daydreams of Spring. Simple, soft percussions, flirty tones and timbres front a cosy little immersive experience – unmissable.

Review by Asmi Shetty

A1. Hi Life feat. Ossia
A2. Echo Form
B1. Two Hours Earth Room
B2. Smile And Wave
C1. Cygnus feat. Space Drum Meditation
C2. AMY feat. Johan Kaseta
D1. Movement In The Breach
D2. Nefyn