The Juan MacLean Announce In A Dream

The Juan MacLean have weathered electroclash, disco-punk, electro-disco, techno, house, deep house, and whatever we can call the sound of today. They never feel totally in step with the moment, but somehow always feel right and necessary. Put differently: there’s always something exciting to say about the music, regardless of the release date.

Let’s start with Nancy Whang. Nancy’s voice has always been a kind of secret weapon on The Juan MacLean records, but this album is her triumph. Just take a look above at the album art where she’s front and center. This is the Nancy Show — you get all sides of Nancy on this record, a wide range of expression. These are all love songs, but emotions run wild. And you can’t pull this off without Nancy — she’s not living in these songs, she’s leading them.

The Juan MacLean always get away with EVERYTHING. For one, they always figure out a way to make the very old sound very new. For instance, the main groove on the album’s first track, “A Place Called Space,” is a combination of epic prog/rock, phased hi-hats, Moroder bass, vocals on delay, spacey lyrics. You’ve heard this before. But the surprise chorus halfway through is what makes it work: “It’s too late, don’t play your games here anymore,” Nancy sings. All that color and emotion . . . like she’s chastising the song itself. Secondly, they always GO THERE. The sounds you’re just not supposed to reach for, the Juan always reaches for.

The Juan MacLean’s In A Dream is out September 16th on DFA Records. Listen below to first single, “A Place Called Space.”