From the effortless craft displayed on this record you would hardly know it as Dauwd’s first album. That’s probably because he has plenty of production experience with Ghostly International and Kompakt, where he has honed his craft and given note of a style that looks back to Detroit and Berlin but which looks forward too. As soon as it starts ‘Theory Of Colours’ feels like a warm embrace, thanks to the comforting sounds and harmonies of ‘Macadam Therapy’. It sets the tone for the album, which manages to charm even when the likes of ‘Analogische Memories’ take a more mechanical approach. There is a nice combination of soft vocoder and piano on ‘Leitmotiv’ – that German influence celebrated again! – but the real winners are saved for late on in the dappled sunshine of ‘Unconscious’ and the gorgeous title track, where Dauwd’s rich selection of studio shades and textures reaches its peak. An ideal soundtrack to those fuzzy summer mornings and evenings.
Ben Hogwood
5 out of 5
https://ninjatune.net/release/dauwd/theory-of-colours
