シドニーを拠点とするデュオD.D. Mirageが待望のデビューアルバムを発表。12インチ・シングル『Night Time』『Feel It/So Hot』に続く、Isle of Juraからの本作は、イタロ・ディスコからナイジェリアン・ブギーまで多様なサウンドが融合した作品だ。

2010年代半ばにインディー・サイケバンドで活動していたJosh DivesとDisky Deeは、シドニーのウェアハウス・パーティー・シーンで頭角を現す。バレアリック・ビートやディスコに影響を受け、音楽性を転換していった。

「Exotic Illusionsというタイトルは、世界中の音楽への憧れを表している」と二人は語る。ロックダウン中に触れた異国の音は、旅行できない代わりとなる体験だった。

ナポリのベーシストDaniel MonacoやドラマーAndrea De Fazioを迎えた『So Hot』、マンチェスターのPrivate Joyが参加した『Night Time』など、国際色豊かなコラボレーションが特徴。タイトル曲のトロピカルなメロディから、『Piranesi』の南米風ブギー、『Antenna』の80年代ボサノヴァまで、多様なダンスフロア・サウンドが詰まっている。

『Feel It』の永遠の夕焼けを思わせるグルーヴ、『Cat's Cradle』のディスコ風スポークン・ワード、オーストラリアらしい『Living Upside Down』のウィットに富んだ歌詞など、バラエティ豊かな楽曲が並ぶ。Bradley Pinkertonによるフルスリーブ・アートワークも見逃せない。

オーストラリアから世界に発信する、新鮮で国際的なサウンドを体験できる1枚だ。

 

A1. Exotic Illusions (Feat Hotel)
A2. Piranesi
A3. So Hot
A4. Antenna (Feat Jofi)

B1. Feel It
B2. Cat's Cradle (Feat Jermango Dreaming)
B3. Livin' Upside Down
B4. Night Time (Feat Private Joy)

After releasing their well-received 7” and 12” singles ‘Night Time’ and ‘Feel It / So Hot’, Isle of Jura is pleased to present Exotic Illusions, the debut album from D.D. Mirage, the Sydney-based duo of Josh Dives and Disky Dee.

Having first played music together during the mid-2010s in the indie-psyche and punky-shoegaze bands King Colour and SCK CHX, the two Australian musicians/DJs came up in the warehouse party scene that fermented in the wake of the Sydney lockout laws. While organising mixed media events under the Yeah Nah Yeah brand, they discovered the joys of disco, dance-punk and the Balearic beat through Pender St Steppers’ DJ mixes and reissue releases and found themselves changing direction in response.

Written and recorded with a range of vintage keyboards and preamps, instruments and digital studio software, Exotic Illusions is a cosmopolitan love letter to the immaculate blend of Italo disco, Neopolitan funk, Nigerian boogie, cosmic house, synth-pop, UK street soul and lovers rock sounds that have inspired D.D. Mirage since they began this iteration of their ever-evolving musical relationship.

“The name Exotic Illusions refers to our fascination with all of this music made in other parts of the world,” they explain. “During lockdown and thereafter, we indulged in these exotic sounds as an antidote to our lack of travel. This fascination continued as the world opened up again, and we started working on tunes together. It’s also a way of acknowledging that we feel like tourists partaking in these styles and established sounds. They aren’t ours and weren’t born out of the place we’re from, but we hope we’ve been able to add something unique to them.”

In recognition of this, rather than just reinterpreting genre motifs through an antipodean lens, D.D. Mirage opened up lines of communication with some of their favourite musicians from the Neapolitan scene, bassist Daniel Monaco (Rush Hour, Periodica Records) and drummer Andrea De Fazio (Parbleu/ Nu Genea), who recorded the rhythm section for ‘So Hot’. They also wrote to the Manchester-based singer/producer Private Joy, who graced ‘Night Time’ with a smoother-than-silk street soul vocal that helped the single secure crucial plays on NTS and BBC Radio 6.

Opening with the tropical melodies, post-disco machine beats and jilted art-punk singalong chants of the title track, Exotic Illusions unfolds as a series of sturdy, internationally-minded dancefloor excursions. ‘Piranesi’ is boogie with a South American shuffle. ‘So Hot’ is Neapolitan funk with a Leichhardt strut, and ‘Antenna’ (featuring Jofi) is D.D. Mirage’s love letter to ‘80s drum machine bossa nova from Brussels.

On ‘Feel It’, the duo hit a sparking groove that reaches into an eternal sunset of the mind before throwing out a bubbly disco-not disco spoken word bounce on ‘Cat’s Cradle’, featuring psychedelic-pop singer Jermango Dreaming. From there, D.D. Mirage bring it home with a cheeky Aussie drawl on ‘Living Upside Down’ and the nocturnal excellence of ‘Night Time’, making a case for themselves as a significant new force from Australian music to the world.
full sleeve artwork from Bradley Pinkerton.