German artist DeWalta has always managed to cram as much musicality and melody as possible into his tracks regardless of how minimal and deconstructed they are. Whether that be a collaboration with Cristi Cons, Mike Shannon or one of his many remixes, DeWalta has a keen ear for even the subtlest of melodies.
Taking place across 2 very distinct but inexplicably linked releases on Meander (025 & 026), Lyra, DeWalta’s third full length album, is perhaps the more dancefloor focused work of the 2 “sides” which is more in keeping with DeWalta’s usually minimal, yet melodic grooves. This beat laden part of the album features 2 discs with 6 tracks in total and while they offer some seriously deep and kicking drums and percussion the focus is most definitely on the musicality and extremely high production values that can be usually found on a DeWalta release.
In Greek mythology, Lyra represents the Lyre of Orpheus, Apollo’s son. Made by Hermes from a tortoise-shell, it was given to Apollo who then passed it along to Orpheus. It is said to be the first music instrument ever made. After only a quick listen of the above track clips it is easy to see the heavenly influences at work on this stunning release.
Over on the second part to this stunning body of work is Lyra Pi, a new direction in a more cinematic electronic vein to DeWalta’s normal production output. This single disc LP is completely beatless and decidedly ambient and can be combined with the previous double disc release to form a special 3-disc LP which contains a handmade see-through screen-printed PVC sleeve, plus an insert card with artwork.
With this highly expansive solo project being a bit of a departure for both artist and label, the scale of the work that has gone in to this release is immeasurable upon first listen, but this exciting direction for such a talented artist to be moving in is a true sign of the talent of much of this strain of producers have at their disposal. You will have to make do with the above clips for now as you wont be able to get your hands on this release until January 25th.
More info on DeWalta
Facebook | Resident Advisor
More info on Meander
Facebook | Resident Advisor
