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.
