Kevin Saunderson returns to his galvanic underground alias, E-Dancer, this time with his son Dantiez. Regenerated, retooled and with a sonic elixir to unify dancefloors. ‘Generational’, the forthcoming project from Motor City’s first family of techno, marks the first original E-Dancer album since ’98.
The new evolution finds the godfather of Detroit techno and his protege at maximal decibels, blasting into the 2020s with a stack of club-driven custom-made tracks to jack dancefloors worldwide.
Propulsive rhythms pump across 15 tracks. Traditional E-Dancer dark basslines, bone-rattling low end and stripped-back style are ignited by Dantiez’s technical prowess and underground lineage on forthcoming singles like “Melodica” (Kevin and Dantiez’s favourite record).
While the haunting strings and theatrical builds of ‘Symbolica’ via violin virtuoso Eva act as a nod to Kevin’s future plans score music for films.
“When people hear ‘Generational’, I hope they feel the elevation and the synergy between the original E-Dancer and the new iteration,” Dantiez explains, having written ¾ of the music, paying homage to his father’s sonic palette that first inspired him while stamping out his style and status as a high in-demand remixer in shoes others might have been too intimidated to fill.
In the ‘90s, Saunderson sent shockwaves with his seminal album, ‘Heavenly.’ Amid sociopolitical storms, inner-city decay, and protest, E-Dancer’s solo debut was a brooding, bass-laden battle cry to connect in a groove—a cyberpunk masterpiece that reverberated across the 1990s, 00s, 2010s, and now 2020s.
Over the years E-Dancer remixes have been a rarity. Fellow producers Juan Atkins and Carl Craig mixed original music, Kenny Larkin revamped “Pump the Move”, Saunderson himself gave “Heavenly” an orchestral revisit, Adam Beyer’s label Drumcode was entrusted with the job on Re: Generate, and a re-edit recently of “Velocity Funk” is on the way. None have struck a chord as deep and reignited the flame to return to Kevin’s E-Dancer roots as his blood ties.
“Dantiez sounds like me. Working on this next generation of E-Dancer with Dantiez, I’m more passionate and energetic than ever. We swap my expertise for his technical knowledge. When people hear the album, I hope they hear the connection between a father and son on the same path of creating music. This album is about me, the pioneer, passing the torch to him to carry on the legacy. I know it’s his DNA. I know he was ready.”
E-Dancer singles and remixes are fast approaching, but Dantiez reveals that the full ‘Generational’ album release and live show will happen at Movement Festival in Detroit in 2025. Hinting at plans to ramp up E-Dancers brain-melting live show performed from a towering UFO-shaped DJ booth inspired by Funkadelics mothership, to include banks of synth and out-of-this-world visuals for undulating crowds of dancers across 2025 tours.
“When I decided to make music, my path was to make people dance. It always will be. Dance is happiness; it’s joyful. It’s a connection between different cultures, races and people around the world. Even if you don’t speak the same language, we can all speak the language of dance.” Kevin proudly beams.