DK7 - 'Disarmed' (Output) Released 14/11/05

On this their debut album, DK7 - the brainchild of shit-hot Swedish tech-house connoisseur Jesper Dahlback and journeyman Irish producer Mark O’Sullivan – fuse Jesper’s electronic arrangements with Mark’s vocals often to devastating effect. It’s slow-building, intelligent music that requires a bit of persistency to grasp, yet, at times, the rewards are well worth it.

Those dance aficionados in the know will already have heard the quite brilliant swirling acid fest that is ‘The Difference’ which stormed across clubland two years ago, and forms the central point of the album. But despite the full on unhinged gurnfest that is this tune, better and more divergent material is to be found elsewhere. ‘Killer’ as the name implies has Mark softly and bloodcurdlingly intoning a brutal narrative complementing Jesper’s dark arrangements. ‘Where’s The Fun’ with its techy, dancefloor loop and spooky keys is just brilliant, while the acidy ‘Life Is Everywhere’ sounds like a mish-mash of Leftism era Leftfield and Depeche Mode. ‘Heart Like A Demon’ even melds Joy Division-esque atmospherics with Mark’s haunted utterances and ‘Fade In Tomorrow’ utilises crunching guitars.

Although it lacks any stand-out turgid tracks, the album somehow loses its way as it progresses. For such a brilliant producer, remixer, DJ etc. Jesper just falls short of consistently coming up with fresh and engaging sounds, while Mark’s deadpan delivery is at times one-dimensional. However, for anyone after a menacing, slightly paranoid electronic soundtrack for the dark months ahead, this may well be your thing.