Analog Love
Dabeull
Most of the time when an artist sets out to make something in the same style as something from the 1980s, the risk is always prevalent. It can come off as inauthentic sounding with details that resemble the 80s, but no true soul. Analog Love completely dodges that critique. It doesn’t feel like it's reenacting or ripping off the 80s, it feels like a record that somehow slipped through
Dabeull has spent many years circulating this sound through his EP’s and singles. But this 2024 release is his first full studio album. 9 songs, 38 minutes, no filler. Throughout the album you’re washed over with warm groovy synth and drum, a regular occurrence of the talk-box, and bass riffs that are swinging constantly. The palette itself is old school, but it isn’t just nostalgia bait.
Dabeull understands this music enough to do more than copy its obvious sounds. It uses the past as a foundation to build on his work, as opposed to using it as a mask.
This 80s funk DNA is not hidden at all. The swing of the album calls back to some of the Parliament/Funkadelic records, and the moment the talk-box shows up, one would immediately think of Zapp & Rogers biggest hits. None of this is hard to find, and that's part of the point. Dabeull isn't just borrowing a couple of famous sounds and textures, he understands the mechanics of this type of music and what made the music feel good in the first
place.
Even the name leans toward the 80s, with the name “Analog Love” being reminiscent of the famous Zapp & Roger track “Computer Love.”
A love letter to the sound and craft of 1980s funk.
Written By Landen Doyle
The track “Let’s Play” Angles more toward the sound of a Janet Jackson track with a Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis vibe. It has that same sleek, romantic, and flirty charge to it that never collapses. One song I'd compare it to is “Between the Sheets” by the Isley Brothers. The back and forth between HolyBrune on lead vocals, and rapper Dezzy Hollow makes sure the song doesn’t push more toward a single song impersonation, and helps give this album the distinct personality it has.
What sells the sound of this album is that it wasn’t just an idea that they pulled off digitally (Hence the name of the album.) Dabeull went and built this sound the hard, and authentic way. The sessions were made on tape at Château de Bertreville in France. Then mixed at a studio in Brussels on the original Harrison 32C Console used to make Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
Now although that fact is fun to hear, it wouldn’t mean much if the songs didn’t carry that weight. This album does in spades. The bass is thick but doesn't drown out the rest of the mix of the album. Vocals sit on the forefront but have plenty of space around them. The Synths are bright and carry a type of heft, not just pushed to the back of the tracks. This album doesn’t just advertise that it was made using analog methods, it’s shaped by them.
Dabeull is not trying to redraw the map of funk. Analog Love lands because it understands what makes 80s funk so great, and the pull of the groove. It doesn’t just sound like someone’s homework project to mimic the sound of the 80s, it sounds like someone who truly understands the music and treats it with the respect it deserves.
