Drexciya – The Journey Home

4 min de lecture
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Review

ART COVER / LABEL
10/10
RECORDING QUALITY
10/10
PRODUCTION
10/10
AUDIENCE RESPONSE
9/10
LOVING IT
10/10
Overall
9.8/10

The Journey Home (Warp Records – 1995) is way more than an electro album: it’s an invitation to dive into an imaginary abyssal world, and explore universal themes

Drexciya’s album The Journey Home is a unique sonic dive into the aquatic universe imagined by the cult electro duo from Detroit. Drexciya, composed of James Stinson (RIPower – In Memoriam) and Gerald Donald, is known for creating a parallel world populated by aquatic beings descended from African slaves who never reached American shores. This album, like a chapter in this complex mythology, resonates like an introspective journey, where the listener is invited to plunge into mysterious musical abysses. This one is my favorite Drexciya’s piece…

Few more words about the record

Logo Drexciya
Drexciya DR

In The Journey Home, Drexciya skillfully combines the organic and the mechanical, evoking underwater landscapes that are as soothing as they are disturbing. The tracks are characterized by heavy, undulating bass, acidic synthesizer sequences, and martial rhythms reminiscent of both the pulsation of underwater life and the industrial atmosphere of Detroit. Sounds seem to coil and unfold, mimicking ocean currents, while minimalist percussion and grainy textures paint an enigmatic sonic picture.

What sets The Journey Home apart from other electronic works is its narrative aspect. Each track is designed as a fragment of a story, where the listener is transported to the heart of the kingdom of Drexciya. The duo does not just create danceable rhythms but offers an immersive story, on the border between science fiction and social criticism. The titles and sounds subtly suggest ideas of liberation, struggle, and resilience, giving the album a surprising emotional dimension for an electro album.

Released at a time when electro was often perceived as music of alienation and dehumanization, This album redefined the genre by integrating its own folklore. Drexciya, with this album, shows that electro can be as much a space of claim as a journey to unexplored places of the human spirit. This album inspired many artists to take a more conceptual approach in their music and remains a benchmark in the genre today. Drexciya achieves the feat of creating music that is both introspective and exhilarating, where each note, each rhythm, becomes an element of a mythological and spiritual journey.

Photo du groupe Drexciya
Drexciya DR

Few words about the band

Detroit electro-techno outfit Drexciya was conceived in 1989, but first came into the public eye in 1994 with Aquatic Invasion – the first of a thematic series of releases. Drexciya’s James Stinson and Gerald Donald remained hidden behind their alias for much of the group’s existence, communicating a complex personal mythology of a « Drexciyan » race of underwater dwellers descended from pregnant slave women thrown overboard during trans-Atlantic deportation. Within this fiction, their music – which they claimed was recorded « live in the studio » rather than programmed – was imagined as a « dimensional jumphole » between their black African roots and the contemporary USA.

Fondateur de Houz-Motik, Cyprien Rose est journaliste. Il a été coordinateur de la rédaction de Postap Mag et du Food2.0Lab. Il a également collaboré avec Radio France, Le Courrier, Tsugi, LUI... Noctambule, il a œuvré au sein de l'équipe organisatrice des soirées La Mona, et se produit en tant que DJ.

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