Album Review: Teen Daze – ‘Interior’

Teen Daze, aka British Columbia producer Jamison Izaak, throws a house party on his latest album, Interior. It's comprised of eight thick, rubbery synth grooves that bounce like jelly and some edits as well. Retro sounding French touch and disco influences loom large in the mix.

The album kicks off with a mood atmospheric opener that features Joseph Shabason dealing a moody sax solo. This opens up to lead single Swimming which is where Teen Daze jumps in with an insistent four on the floor beat that is accompanied by an almost ambient soundscape of dreamy synth tones. It has a decidedly old school vibe that brings the '90s to mind. Teen Daze is joyous and celebratory in his approach, maintaining an easy, feel-good vibe at all times is his priority.

Chopped up vocals on Nite Run cut a strange melody with indistinguishable lyrics while French and electro house influences start to assert themselves in the arrangements. Nowhere features an interesting juxtaposition of atmospheric washes of sound flowing like ripples of water washing up on a beach over a slow-building groove that evolves to a monster dancefloor grind that filters itself out of the mix and seemingly fades into the distance.

Many of these tracks feature a slow build into the beats that would have listeners pulling shapes. Teen Daze places as much importance on atmospheric elements and arpeggiated melodies on many of these tracks before giving us dance floor gratification. Clocking in at eight minutes, Translation takes almost four of those minutes before exploding into a riotous party led by an out of control saxophone. This approach helps shape his dance music into a well-rounded album that can soundtrack our lives as much as it can speak to the dancefloor.  

Teen Daze’s tunes do have an introspective vibe and every track conjures something that feels as though it's inspired by nostalgic memories of people, places and good times. Still Wandering, for instance, has a weary long-way-from-home vibe. It is an interlude ahead of 2AM (Real Love) featuring Cecile Love on vocals and it offers a sweetly understated synth-pop moment that comes with flourishes of disco, piano house and deeply funky bass.

Interestingly, the edits don’t offer a substantially different perspective on these tunes. Teen Daze doesn’t start a riot but there is something instantly likeable about these grooves.