The Brighter The Light

In 2013, the Juan MacLean resumed releasing singles after a short hiatus, starting with You Are My Destiny. Curiously, the song and its follow-ups Feel Like Movin and Get Down (With My Love) didnt appear on the groups third full-length, 2014s In a Dream, and the trail of non-album singles continued throughout the remainder of the decade. The Brighter the Light collects the majority of these tracks (barring a pair of non-DFA releases), and it easily stands up to the acts three strong full-lengths. As expected from a collection of singles by a dance group, this focuses squarely on club burners -- no synth pop ballads or interstitial experiments here. Practically all of the vocals heard here are by Nancy Whang (if John MacLean himself sings at all, its just as backup), and the lyrics are typically preoccupied with either love, dancing, or both, but What Do You Feel Free About? and Can You Ever Really Know Somebody probe for deeper meaning without getting too heady. While the groups new wave and post-punk influences are still present -- theres no mistaking the New Order nods during What Do You Feel Free About? and Get Down (With My Love) -- these tracks feel a bit more fixated on early-90s house and rave, from the orchestra stabs and acid squiggles of Zone Non Linear to the punchy beats and ecstatic pianos of Feel Like Movin (although the latter tracks choppy vocal samples place it a bit closer to the 2010s). The second half of the release is deeper and less immediate than the first, but just as thrilling. Quiet Magician is an intoxicating piece of underwater dub-house, while the sublime Can You Ever Really Know Somebody is the Juan MacLean at their most trance-inducing. The collection concludes with its title track, a dreamy blend of starry arpeggios and reflective yet buoyant pianos. A magnificent release from an act who have remained DFAs most reliable signing without ever sticking to a tried-and-true formula. ~ Paul Simpson