- A reverent but playful love letter to Detroit techno.
- Ann-Marie Teasley, aka The AM, might be a newcomer on the global dance music stage, but not so much in her own city of Detroit. As she put it herself, she's been a regular on the city's dance floors for decades—some of them long gone, like the infamous warehouse gracing the EP's cover. This has granted her an intimate knowledge that's not merely about track IDs and white labels. It has more to do with less tangible concepts like funk, groove and soul. The first track I heard from her was "I Can Tell," which combined second-wave Detroit pads, a lead synth that screams peak-era electroclash and nasty lyrics delivered with a wink. It captures a reverent but playful approach to techno that really comes to life on her debut Tresor EP, Black Majik.
Sure, Teasley sticks to tried-and-tested formulas here. Fancy organ-led beatdown? Check the title track. In the mood for pummeling, heads-down techno with a UR feel? Knock yourself out with "Shadow Werk." Arguably the EP'ds heaviest number, it boasts a cartoonishly ominous growl, as if poking fun at the greyscale landscape that's come to define much of modern techno. The screwy feel continues with "On Joy Road," which owes more to early electro-funk and the Hague than the sometimes stargazing, cold sheen of modern American electro—it's more Danny Daze than E.R.P., if you will. Legendary crew Scan 7's relentless remix of "Shadow Werk" might be my favorite track on the whole release, if only for its arpeggiated synth pushing the original's gurgling lead into hyperdrive.
As part of Ash Lauryn's Underground & Black crew, The AM belongs to a generation-spanning cohort of Black artists bent on fighting whitewashing and upholding the roots of techno. This EP's release on Tresor, maybe the one European entity that's done the most to lift up the genre's originators even 30 years into its run, feels like no coincidence. When even local promoters don't fully acknowledge local talent during Detroit's Movement weekender, this record is a timely introduction to a committed local hero. The AM is no overnight success, though: Black Majik is the work of someone who knows this sound inside out gleefully fooling around with it.
Tracklist01. Black Majik
02. On Joy Road
03. Shadow Werk
04. Shadow Werk (Scan 7 Remix)