- On her long-awaited debut LP, Eris Drew delivers ecstatic yet introspective house scorchers.
- Eris Drew is a fierce advocate for house and techno's restorative potential, and she has the experience to back it up. Inspired by a psychedelic post-rave epiphany in the early '90s, Drew has spread word of a healing feminine energy within dance music she calls the Motherbeat. Her early years behind the decks were split between two dance music meccas, Chicago and Detroit, and these days, she tours internationally and co-runs the record label T4T LUV NRG with her partner Octo Octa. The pair's back-to-back DJ sets are well-loved affairs, brimming with the rowdy but sincere positivity that seems to radiate from everything Drew does. Her long awaited debut album, Quivering In Time, captures a similar energy to those back-to-back sets and the parties Drew plays at: mystical, intricate and, of course, amped up.
Quivering In Time is a kaleidoscopic sequence of house music tunes that tend to blend into one another, sounding more like a DJ mix than a typical electronic album. Drew packs these tracks with ecstatic vocal samples and buoyant breakbeats, channeling the classic house and rave tunes she loves to play with her own psychedelic touch. Opener "Time To Move Close" and Its steady snare (and vintage vocal snippets) keep spirits high while the spacey keys and cello-like pads lend it a trippy, out-there vibe. And on "Loving Clav," Drew shows off her gift—and glee—for eccentric samples, with pitchy, warbled vocals and muscular beats coming together like nobody's business.
Drew recorded Quivering In Time during lockdown, often gazing out the window of her home studio in rural New Hampshire. The meditative "A Howling Wind'' captures her love of the great outdoors, as an eerie gust blows throughout, floating by the acidic synths and snappy snares. The placid "Sensation" features synths and organ as crisp as forest dew, a lush and gratifying respite from the album's sweatier moments. It's satisfying to hear the atmosphere of Drew's forest home folded into her music. And these sleepier cuts aren't short on vibes or feeling—slathered in swampy pads and warped vocals, even the ambling "Baby" still burns with joy.
One of Drew's major goals is to realize enlightenment and affirmation through a distinctly happy form of hedonism—to hear the Motherbeat on your own terms. The climactic "Ride Free" is her most succinct mission statement yet. Opening with a quote from psychedelic guru Terence McKenna, the song's electrified synths and church organ create an atmosphere that's energized and reflective. It's like surveying the land below from a plane that's just taken flight. A later sample of Peter Fonda in the film The Wild Angels rallying for the right to party is an astute closing note to the album: dance music can be as weighty or airy as you want it to be.
Tracklist01. Time To Move Close
02. Loving Clav
03. Pick 'Em Up
04. A Howling Wind
05. Show U Love
06. Baby
07. Sensation
08. Ride Free
09. Quivering In Time