Album Review: Essential by Soulwax

How long does an album take to make? History is littered with tales of day-long recording sessions, but including the writing process makes the question more interesting. Daft Punk's third album Human After All was said to have been created in two weeks, but was also criticised for being underdeveloped and overly repetitive, while Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak was created in three and faced similar criticism. Soulwax seem to be experimenting with this idea, having recorded their previous album From Deewee in one take and now completing Essential in a fortnight for BBC Radio 1's feature of the same name.

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After returning in 2017 with their first LP in 12 years — the well-received From Deewee — Soulwax were invited by the BBC to record a volume of their famed Essential Mix. Rather than assembling a collection of other artists' songs, the Belgian duo decided to remix the mould and sequester themselves into a studio to record their sixth album, calling it Essential.   Putting the album together in just under two weeks, Soulwax deftly kept much of the liveliness that made their previous LP so listenable, as many of the tracks on this 60 ….

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