Ben Thompson 

Seven Davis Jr: Universes review – summer dance stylings built on funky foundations

North California’s Seven Davis Jr comes across like Prince giving Jamie xx lessons in cool on his varied yet cohesive debut
  
  

seven davis jr review
Seven Davis Jr: occupying the middle ground between D'Angelo and Four Tet. Photograph: PR

Imagine if Prince forsook his current fetish for female-dominated hard rock in favour of showing Jamie xx how a delicious smorgasbord of summer dance styles should really be done. The results might sound something like north California-based DJ/songwriter/producer/singer Seven Davis Jr’s diverse yet cohesive debut. Constructing his own blithely funky edifice on sure foundations from George Clinton (Everybody Too Cool) to D-Train (on the Julio Bashmore-assisted Good Times), Davis Jr seems equally at home amid the brazen pop of Sunday Morning and the way more abstract 10-minute finale Welcome Back. Claiming the middle ground between D’Angelo and Four Tet was a bold move, but I think he’s pulled it off.

 

Leave a Comment

Required fields are marked *

*

*