2020Soundsystem

Hailing from Leeds, England, 2020Soundsystem is a quartet that puts the disco in disconnected. The combined effort of Danny "Dubble D" Ward, Ralph Lawson, Fernando Pulichino, and Julian Sanza, the group produces tracks that are diffused with dub but still punctuated with physical triggers. They invite you to bliss out even as they incite you to throw down. It's a sound that's electro- and tech-informed, in the classical sense of drawing from the New Wave funk of early '80s New York and tussling with pre-minimal house.

2020Soundsystem was always conceived as a performance vehicle, however, not as some studio project forced to do a promo tour. So it's somewhat surprising that most of the group's sophomore full-length, Falling, does little to belie the band's live roots. Or perhaps it does. The songs' components — coming from Ableton Live, synths, bass, and drums — are so synchronized they must have been tested and expertly retuned, and the road could be as good a place as any to do so. Multilayered effects and insistent Moroder-like arpeggio contrast with deadpan, disembodied vocals, creating a blend of wet and dry tones that is singular and original.