Reviewed: Dennis Liber – ‘Astro Danza’ EP [Razor-N-Tape]
There is no shortage of dance music sold on the promise of sunshine, but Dennis Liber’s ‘Astro Danza’ has a more convincing claim than most. Written across several years and shaped by four spent living in the Caribbean, his first solo EP for Razor-N-Tape feels less like an imagined escape and more like a document of somewhere he actually inhabited. Pre-order your copy here.
The title track makes that distinction immediately. Latin percussion and Spanish vocals circle around cosmic synths and a loose, funky groove, creating something distinctly nocturnal. It is Balearic in spirit without reaching for the usual signifiers, carrying enough psychedelic detail to suggest the night is only getting stranger.
‘Être Heureux’ switches the atmosphere completely. Zouk and disco provide the foundations for the EP’s brightest moment, with an easy rhythmic swing that captures the communal spirit behind the project without labouring the point. French producer Anoraak’s accompanying remix offers another perspective, polishing its tropical looseness into something more streamlined while retaining the original’s warmth.
‘Femme Papillon’ drifts furthest from conventional club functionality. Dreamier and more spacious, it lets jazz, funk and cosmic influences mingle without any one of them taking control. The result feels appropriately weightless.
What ties ‘Astro Danza’ together is Liber’s refusal to make its influences sound like a checklist. Musicians and friends from France, Argentina, Greece, Serbia and Switzerland contributed across sessions in three countries, and that collaborative history is audible in how naturally the record moves between styles.
There is disco here, certainly, but reducing it to tropical disco undersells what Liber has made. ‘Astro Danza’ is warmer, stranger and more personal than that description suggests, capturing a particular period of his life without turning paradise into a cliché.
