Ammar Kalia 

The Blessed Madonna: Godspeed review – a sprawling dancefloor odyssey

Featuring Kylie Minogue, Jacob Lusk and more, the American producer and DJ’s solo debut offers something for everyone
  
  

Marea Stamper, AKA the Blessed Madonna, in a black t-shirt leaning against a stack of red coca cola crates
Marea Stamper, AKA the Blessed Madonna. Photograph: Eva Pentel

For the best part of the past decade, Chicago DJ Marea Stamper, AKA the Blessed Madonna, has built a reputation for whipping dancefloors into a euphoric frenzy with her crate-digging mixes of house, techno and disco. As a producer, she has channelled this high-octane sensibility into remixes for the likes of Dua Lipa and Robyn. Now, on her debut album, Godspeed, Stamper presents a sprawling odyssey that ranges from radio-friendly features to darker, bass-heavy tracks.

At the commercial end of the spectrum are pleasing if unoriginal numbers such as the piano house party-starter Edge of Saturday Night with Kylie Minogue; James Vincent McMorrow breakbeat feature Brand New; and Jacob Lusk disco roller Mercy Pt 2. Godspeed grows more distinct when Stamper delves into the murkier corners of the dancefloor – the hammering techno bass of Somebody’s Daughter; the gritty, jacking house of Blessed Already and chopped fractal vocals of Strength (R U Ready).

Yet at a gargantuan 24 tracks, the album as a whole risks subsuming these body-shaking numbers with the weight of its remaining filler, making Godspeed a perfectly enjoyable record that packs in too much to make it memorable.

Listen to Edge of Saturday Night (Extended) by the Blessed Madonna &and Kylie Minogue.
 

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