Abakus is a psychedelic downtempo electronica alias, started in 2004 with his inaugural album "That Much Closer to the Sun. He has since released the albums "We Share the Same Dreams", "Prisms", "Silent Geometry", and the most recent "Departure".
"The prodigiously gifted Russ Davies releases his first Abakus album in three years, and the qualities that made last year’s e.p. The Beginning/Dreamer so outstanding are all here. Book-ended by two Daft Punk-like songs and containing nine lush instrumentals, Departure finds him applying his incredible pop smarts and grasp of melody on a blissfully chilled-out canvas. His downtempo distillations of punchy synthpop, underground trance, progressive house and Balearic lounge literally sparkle with life and light. The arpeggio-driven “Dreamer” and “The Beginning” provide the album’s euphoric peaks, surrounded by slightly more sedate fare that ebbs and flow on steady, hypnotic breakbeats. “Still A Soul” has harmonies of weeping beauty, while “Storm” shows his knack for harvesting the very best qualities of melodic club trance without any of its cheesiness. Departure is deeply loving music, the very essence of quiet joy and gentle euphoria, captured in a bottle and cast upon an ocean where the sun shines eternal."
credits: Album review from Mike Watson/Ambient Music Guide
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.abakusmusic.com
