Weval are an intriguing proposition. The Amsterdam-based duo make cool and slightly understated music but are flexible with it – and so their debut album for Kompakt has a nice ebb and flow about it, drawing on analogue-sounding percussion to complement its digital guile. ‘I Don’t Need It’ is a great track, a Balearic staple in the making with sharper bass and attitude, while the ‘You Made It’ (Part II)’ has a good, loping beat. There is a darker side to the lyrics, heard in the closing track ‘Years To Build’, where ‘it takes years to build up something then you die’. A bit of darker realism – which works in with the heat-soaked textures elsewhere. An album that is ultimately for chilling out, but with an edge running through it.
4 out of 5
Reviewed by: Ben Hogwood
