DJ Rum

𝙒𝙚 𝙜𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚. 𝙒𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙨. 𝙒𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨.” 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙋𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙞 𝙎𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙭 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙪𝙚𝙡’𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙐𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙏𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙎𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙗𝙪𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙞𝙭 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙗𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙝.

Felix originally began it in earnest in 2020 Covid lockdown, but a catastrophic hard-drive meltdown destroyed almost all his work and sent him close to psychic collapse himself. However, ultimately this pushed him to rebuild from scratch and in so doing to confront and reassess every part of his musical and psychological processes. The result is utterly extraordinary.

Felix was a child prodigy as an instrumentalist and his advanced musicality has always been prominent in his music, but here he has put himself front and centre as pianist, harpist and more. And this sense of exposure as a performer interweaves with an unflinching emotional openness too. Where sometimes electronic production as advanced as this can use intellect and techniques as shields from soul-baring, this is the sound of someone who can boldly say “I feel things, I cry all the time, and I'm not afraid to say it or show it in the music.” But this doesn’t mean there’s a move away from the soundsystems and dancefloors where Felix made his name as a uniquely innovative vinyl DJ. Even just in the opening track “A Tune for Us”, minimalist piano ripples and jazz drumming flow into the breaks of vintage jungle – and as the structure of the LP unfolds, a deep ambient meditation like “Hold” can sit very naturally in between the futurist dancehall of “L’Ancienne” and the high-definition acid house mind movie of “Galaxy in Silence”.

In fact, as with the hands-on musicianship, that gutsy big-speaker electronic impact is delivered with more certainty, more expertise, more personal flourishes than ever. And all of those elements are more integrated than ever too: the sound of a total musical personality emerging afresh is truly something to behold. An already remarkable talent has been refreshed, reborn and is making the music of his life.