The past year has been an exceptionally strong one for London DJ and producer Daniel Avery. From taking centre stage at Glastonbury’s Arcadia alongside VTSS, to producing one of the albums of 2022, the Phantasy Sound prodigy has without a doubt cemented himself as one of the stalwarts of the UK’s electronic scene. To celebrate his latest album, Avery invited fans to attend a number of nights including one at London’s brand-new venue HERE.
In November, Avery blessed the world with perhaps his strongest work to date, Ultra Truth. Serving up an exquisitely balanced journey for the listener, both divine and direct, Avery incorporates a range of sounds and genres within the project, helped by several features from close friends and fellow producers Sherelle, HAAi, Kelly Lee Owens, James Massiah and A.K. Paul. Receiving critical acclaim from a slew of major publications including the Financial Times and The Guardian — the latter describing the project as ‘Introspective and propulsive’ — Ultra Truth showcases the very best of Avery, and artist who has been carefully chipping away at his craft ever since unleashing his monumental debut album Drone Logic, which celebrates its tenth birthday next year.
HERE at Outernet would provide the perfect venue for Avery to showcase his fifth studio album and avant-garde sounds. The newly opened event space is located in the heart of the city directly opposite Tottenham Court Road station and is difficult to miss thanks to the huge LED advertising screens on display. Already garnering a reputation for its high-spec sound system and visual exhibitions, inside vertical stand-alone lighting units surrounded the decks at centre stage, backed by a state-of-the-art effects screen on the wall behind.
Once the light pillars began to flicker, on came Avery to a rapturous response. Diving straight into proceedings, the dexterous DJ introduced the translucent piano chords of “New Faith”, looped in with his trademark adlibs ‘Noise Flies High’ before accelerating into the bassier sounds of “Diminuendo”. Not pausing for breath, Avery teased in “Clear”, another from his Song For Alpha project — the swirling synths building slowly for a minute before unleashing a slower dub edit transcending into a slower, but heavier break beat. Drone Logic opener “Water Jump” was thrown into the mix, the first track to truly test the durability of HERE’s strobe lights and providing a timely reminder of just how good Avery’s back catalogue truly is.
About halfway through, Avery started to deliver some headier cuts including his early production “Taste”, taken from his 2012 EP Need Electric, matched with some unidentifiable, yet formidable techno beats and breaks. Avery’s silhouette bobbed up and down, searching for the perfect time to unleash his brand new beast “Higher” — one of the most impactful tracks from Ultra Truth. Rising synths and relentless breaks, matched with on-screen visuals made for an intergalactic journey through multi-coloured valleys.
Following a series of jungle and breaks, Avery brought crowd back down to earth with his euphoric cut “Chaos Energy”, a joint venture with Kelly Lee Owens and HAAi, before embarking on the final stages of the night. On cue, the lights dipped, and Avery’s fist punched the air much to the crowds delight. After a few rounds of applause and gestures, Avery briefly left the stage before reappearing one last time to play his final offering. Of course, on came the warped bass of his timeless classic “Drone Logic” — leaving the track to run from start to finish. The perfect ending to one of the best shows to have come out of 2022. Avery has London’s heart.
Listen to Ultra Truth here.
