With his new album Flux, now available, NYC’s Deca proves that the best instrumental music is more than capable of telling a story and enrapturing a listener without its creator saying a single word. While we do get to hear from Deca on a few featured remixes, he lets his art do the talking across the remainder of the 17-track journey of sounds, dust-covered samples, and simply flooring compositions.
“When I’m making an album, I try to document where I’m at in life and try not to be too heavy handed about it,” Deca explains when describing how he was able to pull together a cohesive narrative almost without opening his mouth. The Denver native says he’s always been a fan of vivid imagery and storytelling in music, citing Nas, Ghostface, and Mos Def as a few of his influences, while adding that he loves being able to “visualize what I’m hearing.”
As a listener, it’s easy to do the same when spinning the entirety of Flux, which is brimming with chopped-up samples from years past, and an overall vibe that we’re all on a trip together, but no one is quite sure when or how it ends. To quote the sampled vocals heard on standout track “Be Alert”: “Perhaps what this planet really needs, is something that will jolt us out of our self-centered, selfish outlook on life in general. But… time will tell.”
That feeling of being lost but also optimistic and wholly self-aware, keeps Flux grounded amidst otherworldly and sometimes-intergalactic vibes, like on the uber-trippy “Space Dust.” And to simply commend Deca for his ability to capture those emotions would be understating his accomplishments here.
As such, it’s no surprise that when he actually does showcase his rhyming talents—as exemplified on his self-produced remix for “Waiting,” as well as on the Man Mantis, Neon Brown and Felix Fast4ward remixes for “Skyward,” “6th & A,” and “Maintain,” respectively—they’re used to superbly display a simple encapsulation of the greater mood of the the project, a tale of being adrift but not entirely lost.
Flux is available now through all digital retailers and streaming services via Beulah Records.
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