CHARMED is the 5th album released by London based electronic musician DJ Sabrina the teenage DJ, released 25th of November 2020. But is it good?
So Charmed is an album that kind of popped out of nowhere at the end of November- I had never heard of DJ Sabrina before and suddenly everyone has this record near or at the top of their albums-of-the-year list- and I'd hardly heard a peep from this artist before. So what's Charmed all about?
The first thing I think I should mention is the size of this album- it stands at a huge 184 minutes with 31 tracks- which the astute amongst you will realise gives the tracks an average runtime of over 6 minutes (many of which exceed that anyway). It's also the only album I've ever seen sold on double cassette, for what that's worth.
Secondly, it's 3 straight hours (I say straight because the tracks pretty much all blend into one another) of 90's and 2000's house music, which whilst not something I expressly wouldn't enjoy isn't something I would go out of my way to listen either- but, I thought I'd give it a chance and was more than pleasantly surprised by the record.
DJ Sabrina wastes little time getting into the album proper- the 7 minute opener NEXT TO ME showcases DJ Sabrina's affinity and talent for dense layers of vocal and instrumental layers- as well as their keen eye for picking immediately catchy vocal hooks. By the second half of the track the album cements itself as a living, breathing and flowing mass of music with so many bits of instrumentation from guitar to saxophones to synthesisers all over the track- it just has this insistent resilience to keep going and going and going. Much of the record is also underpinned by this steadfast bass drum that ties down the whirlwind of samples and instrumentals to a consistent rhythm. It almost acts as a pulse to the record.
All over the album DJ Sabrina splices in these found sound vocal lines from movies and TV shows that really add to the atmosphere of the record- they often sound cheesy but I'd guess that's the point. People use the phrase "exercise in nostalgia" as an insult but I think here nostalgia is used as a vehicle for escapism, purely. 2020 has pretty a pretty shit year for just about everyone, and Charmed kind of feels like a 3 hour long piece of escapism from everything.
Of course, it would be absurd to go through and review every track individually, but if I had to pick a favourite I might say Feel The Pain I purely because of it's gorgeous textures, the track is pure ear candy. I think the last hour of the record is probably my favourite third of it, it feels more free and relieved and carefree than the other too. It might also be worth mentioning that the last 2 tracks account for 28 minutes of the runtime, and closer End Of An Era sends the album out on a high note too. It definitely feels like a good send off for the album with this piano sample and skippy sort of rhythm, and even the piano sample keeps looping on and on as if it itself doesn't want the album to end. Plus there's a little "after credits scene" for anyone who's stuck around for the full 3 hours.
So overall I really enjoyed Charmed. It's the kind of album that will you to keep listening to it for it's 3 hour runtime, even if you have other stuff you really ought to be getting on with. If you've got the time, check it out!
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