Blank & Jones - Relax Edition 16

A Relax series record whose fastest cut clocks in at 160 BPM: that is this installment's first contradiction, and its most productive one. 'Strada Statale Amalfitana' leads the fast end alongside 'Cielo y Mar' (156) and opener 'Beyond the Sea' (154); on the opposite shore, 'Seven Seas' drops to 82 while 'Zodiac' and 'Ventura Vibes' sit in the 88-90 range. Nearly double the tempo between extremes and yet everything fits the same gesture: in this territory the number lies, and what looks like a sprint on paper tends to move at half time.

Minor by default, major by surprise

The second contrast is tonal. Fifteen of the eighteen cuts live in minor keys — D minor shows up six times, practically a home key — and only three dare to go major: 'Everything I've Got' with Emma Brammer, 'Cool Heat' and closer 'Belleza'. Two of those three also break the formal mold: 'Cool Heat', at 6:22, is by far the longest track on a record where almost everything hovers around three and a half minutes, and where 'Coastline by Night' with Stardelay wraps things up in 2:36. Major mode works here like a clearing in the woods: it appears rarely, which is exactly why you notice it.

Third axis: voice versus instrumental. Six cuts carry guests — Jan Loechel on '1985', Emma Brammer, Sunshine People, Lotte Kestner, Stardelay and Zoe Durrant, whose 'Sign Your Name' stretches the formula to 5:03 — against twelve purely instrumental pieces. The only two openly dance-pop moments ('1985' and 'Everything I've Got') cluster near the start; from there on, the album folds back into instrumental electronica.

None of this is accidental. Piet Blank and Jaspa Jones come from trance — their first single, 'Sunrise', dates back to 1997 — and since 2003 the Relax series has been their downtempo valve, released through Soundcolours since 2007. That sixteen volumes in the format still yields extremes worth playing against each other, rather than a uniform lounge paste, explains better than anything why the series is still alive.