- Jorge Velez is in the most fruitful phase of his career. Two albums on L.I.E.S. brought his work to a new world of dance music fans after appearing on Italians Do It Better (as Professor Genius) in the mid-2000s. Around the same time L.I.E.S. picked him up, Rush Hour began an exhaustive reissue campaign of his early home recordings. And it may have inspired him to start his own label, Templo, which has racked up four releases in the two months it's been around. Each record explores a different shade of Velez's full-bodied, cosmic sound, and Neptune just might be his best.
The four-tracker is moody and otherworldly compared to Cara's happy-go-lucky hooks or Corner Stories' dazed deep house. It has a cinematic quality that makes it ambiguously sci-fi. The steady cruise of "Coralya" and straightforward drive of "Ebb" give off a krautrock influence, though Velez's arrangements are entirely his own. Each one is complex and poly-melodic without ever getting dense, and smaller synth figures spool off from their main leads, adding detail to the linear beats.
"Sirene Dub" is more percussive, pushing emotive synths to the background and emphasizing classic drum machines for an old-school feel. "Beach Ember" is basically a bossa nova interlude with quiet pads flickering like torch lights. It's pretty and vaguely nostalgic in an evocative way that remains a hallmark of Velez's work.
Tracklist01. Coralya
02. Ebb
03. Beach Ember
04. Sirene Dub