- On the inside label of I Am Woman, Marcellis's double 12-inch on Millions Of Moments, a handwritten message states: "This is not an album..." That's a bit like René Magritte saying "ceci n'est pas une pipe" (or Crocodile Dundee delineating what constitutes a knife)—sure, at six tracks and 42 minutes, I Am Woman is slightly shorter than your average full-length, but it's hard to see this record as anything other than an artist album. It's diverse, understated and loaded with personality—an intriguing statement of purpose from an artist who until now has never really shown his hand.
Marcellis has been DJing and making music for at least a decade, but he flew under the radar until 2012, when he ended an eight-year hiatus (before which he'd released one EP) with a handful of tracks on Workshop. Those records hinted at a signature sound that came more clearly into focus on the Dutch artist's RA Podcast, which cleverly bundled together cuts from Acido Records, Kenny Dixon Jr. and Paul McCartney among others. I Am Woman picks up where that mix left off, finally illuminating Marcellis's musical world with six tracks recorded over several years during his quiet spell.
Each song on I Am Woman feels like a departure from the others. The record starts on a surprisingly sentimental note with "You," a gentle bedroom track with almost-too-sappy soul vocals. "Wanderland" strikes a different note, with a plodding beat and nicely drab chords—it's one of the album's two short and subtle sketches, next to the cosmic final track, "Dang Me." There are three club tunes, all very different: "Speakeasy," with its winding piano lead, is a melancholy afterhours track; "Donnie" is peak time house; "Because" is the kind of glorious wildcard DJ Koze might pull out on a good night.
Yet despite how much ground they cover stylistically, the songs on I Am Woman feel cut from the same cloth. This is thanks to Marcellis's singular style, which is as distinct as it is hard to pin down. Subtle but outlandish, refined but tongue-in-cheek, his music is ambiguous in a way that's very alluring. Album or not, I Am Woman is an elegant house record, and an overdue introduction to a clearly inspired artist.
Tracklist 01. You feat. Fabian
02. Wanderland
03. Speakeasy
04. Because
05. Donnie feat. Son Dexter
06. Dang Me