SG Lewis - Dusk Dark Dawn (3LP)

SG Lewis released Dusk Dark Dawn, a conceptional trilogy of albums between 2018 and 2019. All three are collected on this limited triple vinyl edition. Rather than sticking to unwritten tradition and releasing a full-length record, the English artist instead opted to split the process up and put out a triptych, representing the three different phases of a night out. And so the concept for Dusk, Darkand Dawn was born.

Dusk is your pre-drinks soundtrack. "Sunsets" Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 evoke warm colours and sensations, the sweeping soundscapes pushing to create a balance between beauty in Pt. 1 and emotion in Pt. 2. "Aura", with the help of J Warner on the vocals, pairs beautifully sombre keys with happy house, combining for a rich, soulful house number. "Golden" and "Coming Up" provide the perfect amount of funk to keep the mood going, and "Tides" with Kartell rounds out this first part of the record with a beautiful sense of wholeness.

As you leave the comfort of your pres spot of choice and make your way to the party, that's when Dark is most appropriate. Opener "Again" serves up peak-dancefloor club vibes, with Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs on the feature. Drew Love comes in to spit bars over "A.A.T", a drawling trap anthem you'd lose your mind to in the club. The third track sees a split feature with SG Lewis & Dot Major, serving a slow-burning emotive house trip through huge reverb and careful sequencing. AlunaGeorgebrings heady anthemic sounds to "Hurting", whilst the closer, "Dreaming" with Bruno Major closes out the dancefloor's final moments.

Dawn is still to come, but we've been given a few tastes of what's on the cards already. "Blue" is all SG. It features himself on the vocals, production and the mix down, giving us a rare taste of his previous musical identities that saw him explore more acoustic tendencies. "Throwaway" with Clairo shows the perfect intersection of both artists' sounds, Clairoblasting beautifully emotive lyricism through her captivating voice, whilst SG crafts a delicate field of arpeggiated melodies around her. And finally, "Flames" with wunderkind Ruel brings forth moments of heightened elation and punchy melodies for the perfect track to empty your lungs to at 4am.

Limited Edition 3LP vinyl edition produced by Virgin Records in 2019.