Seven Davis Jr: Universes review – summer dance stylings built on funky foundations

Imagine if Prince forsook his current fetish for female-dominated hard rock in favour of showing Jamie xx how a delicious smorgasbord of summer dance styles should really be done. The results might sound something like north California-based DJ/songwriter/producer/singer Seven Davis Jr’s diverse yet cohesive debut. Constructing his own blithely funky edifice on sure foundations from George Clinton (Everybody Too Cool) to D-Train (on the Julio Bashmore-assisted Good Times), Davis Jr seems equally at home amid the brazen pop of Sunday Morning and the way more abstract 10-minute finale Welcome Back. Claiming the middle ground between D’Angelo and Four Tet was a bold move, but I think he’s pulled it off.