Natal Zaks aka DJ Central aka Alle is at it again. His sophomore album “Alletiders” under the Alle-ias came out a couple weeks back and it’s molto, molto bene. The Alle project began in 2017 with the album “Dine Pæne Øjne”, easily one of my favourite records of that year. At the time it was also somewhat unexpected from Zaks too as his musical output had predominantly been tailored towards the dance floor. Notable releases spring to mind on labels such as Dekmantel, as well as his own Regelbau and Help Recordings, straight outta Århus.
When asked if he hopes to convey a message through his music, Natal says “I do try to show my values and beliefs through music in general” and “perhaps you can hear that the album was really fun to make; that the music on Alletiders is perceived as detached and free because that is how I meant it. Maybe a message or a sense of diversity and spontaneity. Humour too.”
Sung completely in Danish and coming in at 53 minutes “Alletiders” took me across a furry fuzziness of folk, funk, dub, contemporary R&B, playful pop and even at one point what feels like could be a kids TV show theme. “Maybe I sound like an idiot here but sometimes I get the impression that a lot of music looks at itself from the outside and wants to be cool. Which is a bit uncool. And then it might act uncool in order to be cool” Natal muses. “Very tiring - it’s all inside our heads. I don’t feel like spending any more energy on this. Sometimes you just aren't cool; then you play as a child, are not special at all and I think that this also deserves some songs.”
I met Natal and some of the Regelbau crew a couple years ago while they were in London and got a small sense of how close they all are with each other. Generally, if you listen to one of their mixes, chances are every track is some forthcoming heat from one of them. That crosses over into “Alletiders” too where Zaks' pals feature throughout. In case you didn’t know, Zaks also produced one of the best albums of 2019 too, Erika de Casier’s “Essentials”. This time under yet another alias, El Trick. I think he might just be The Danish Timbaland. The talent in the Zaks family doesn’t finish there either! His younger brother Milan is of course DJ Sports and their Mum’s dog Baltasar is the goodest boy in all of Århus, prove me wrong.
Alle translates to ‘all’ and Alletiders to ‘great’ and I have to agree, it most certainly is. Favourite track: “Er Du Alene”. Out digitally now via Olea Records with physical copies out at the end of summer through Safe Distribution.