Joy

At 125 in A minor, this one moves with a soft-footed gait — the kick never crowds the low end, and the melodic figure sits high and open, breathing over the top rather than pushing through it. Energy sits around seven, which is exactly where you want it: enough forward lean to hold a floor without spending anything you'll need later. The texture is warm and slightly aqueous, pads smeared a little at the edges so the whole thing feels like it's moving through humid air.

It's a daytime record, and it knows it. The arrangement gives the harmony room to repeat and settle, so it works best dropped early — second or third hour, while the room is still filling and nobody needs convincing. Nothing here startles you; the pleasure is in the patience of it, that slow bloom each time the chords resolve and the bass steps back to let them.