Softpack

Softpack, the fifth album by revered tech-house producer and remix artist Terry Lee Brown Junior, moves ever so slightly into downtempo territory, making music that can pull the listener onto the dance floor just as easily as it can fuse them to the sofa for a trancey space ride on a lazy Sunday night. “Headache” is a killer opening, a tight weave of funky rhythms blooming from an electronic pulse, floating synths, and the occasional ghoulish vocal loop injected to keep you on your toes. Sequeing into the glassy grooves of “Everyday,” a collaboration with equally renowned producer The Timewriter, Brown’s style is especially warm and multi-dimensional. The collection branches out from that point, changing color like a mood ring, from the silky grooves of “Night in Sutivan” and “Chatterbox,” to the dance floor charge of “Deeper Solidity” and the irresistible percussive, electronic gurgles of “Pulsar” (this one will most certainly lure you off the couch). The middle eastern flavor of “A Case in Point” is vivid and rich, and the party winds down with the relaxed, downtempo “Delightful Encounter.”