The master of micro still makes stripped-back house more soulful than almost anyone else, 15 years on from his last album.
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If you ever doubt that dance music can be life changing, just wander over to the YouTube comments on Thomas Melchior and Baby Ford's immortal "Lady Science (NYC Sunrise)." From failing actuarial exams to failing relationships, the comments are testimony to just how universal that bittersweet organ melody has become. The ability to wring every ounce of emotion has made Melchior stand apart among his peers in any genre he touches. From the angular acid and techno he released on Rephlex in the early '90s to reaching the heights of minimal fame in the '00s, Melchior's music is as stripped down as it comes. His productions are rarely more than some sparse, wiry percussion with the passing flourish of a synth, but he achieves depth and beauty with even his most skeletal productions. Vulnerabilities his first LP in 15 years, features more of the giggling rhythms and robotic chirps of his minimal period, but infuses it with the intimacy of deep house (and a welcome foray into 2-step).
For someone who has been making records for over three decades, Melchior still sounds like he loves dance music with all his heart. That comes down to his faith—both in music (as his YouTube disciples attest to), and more generally. Melchior has long been candid about his explorations of alternate cosmologies, and the pandemic finally allowed him to put this into practice. He studied astrology and launched a new label, My King Is Light, with some not-so-subtly religious album art.
The theology that defines Vulnerabilities shapeshifts as it goes. Melchior travels east with the sitar line in "Mind Diving," before moving south with the harmonized vocal baptism on "Ascending To Our Solitude." The latter calls another dance music spiritual leader, Robert Hood, an influence even more pronounced on "Adrian's Anxiety," where Melchior uses an R&B vocal and swelling strings that make it sound like a Perlonized Floorplan track.
The Hood reference feels natural for Melchior, who has always squared the difference between European and American house. His last LP, 2007's No Disco Future was as informed by Playhouse as it the muted colors of Chez Damier and Ron Trent's Prescription label. And while there's plenty of minimal funk on Vulnerabilities (both tracks on side C reach "Father" levels of grooviness), the best tunes offer an update on the formula. The bass on "Catharsis" has a bad-trip edge, but the higher frequencies are filled with cinematic synth work, which bursts with blue and purple melody. On "Gimme (Timeless Worlds of Space)" the shaker says early morning in Frankfurt, but the placid chords are sunset over the Windy City.
When he's not making killer minimal shakers, Melchior takes a few surprising turns. "Closer" is basically a pop song, with vocal contributions from Jaws and Alina Push (who was almost Ukraine's 2022 Eurovision contestant). "2 Step King" also shows a different side. Although it's become fairly standard for new minimal producers to tap into the syncopated rhythms of UK garage, Melchior's contribution pokes its head above the crowd. It's a wonder he hasn't added shuffling garage drums under his signature bleeps and blops ping-ponging in the high-end before.
In a recent interview, Melchior outlined his commitment to minimalism. "I kind of like things simple and beautiful, minimalism is about the essence of something. In a way. But if things are too tight, too controlled, it kind of makes me a bit stiff." It's the second part of this philosophy that is particularly telling. By stripping dance music to its component parts, Melchior shows how lively and warm just a few elements can be.
TracklistA1 Catharsis
A2 Asceding To Our Solitude
B1 Depressed Fun Seekers
B2 2 Step King
C1 The Checker
C2 Wats It Mean 2 U
D1 Gimme (Timeless Worlds Of Space)
D2 Mind Diving
E1 Adriana's Anxieties
F1 Closer
F2 Jingle All The Way