It was before noon on the first day of July when I listened to Sleep, the new album from Daphne Guinness, for the third time that day. I’m not one to play albums on repeat, but this one resonated with me in a particular way. By the third listen, I had already started to memorize a few of the songs, but had yet to decide which ones will end up in my DJ sets.  This album is disco perfection and there are songs suited for nearly every kind of set I might play.

Guinness (yes, as in the beer) is best known in the fashion world, where she championed designers like the late Alexander McQueen. You might not know her name, but probably have seen photographs of her wearing catsuits, platforms without a heel and updos. She also has a background in music and, after encouragement from none other than David Bowie, released her first album in 2016. Sleep is Guinness’ fourth album and her best yet. It’s a little disco and a little electroclash, full of drama and a good dose of humor. 

There is a lot that I find interesting about Guinness’ music. To start, she was nearly 50 when she released her first album, so, lyrically, she can tap into the wealth of experiences one accumulates over the years. At the same time, she’s still in that early-ish period of releasing music where she’s not set on one style. Her first two albums had more of a rock bent to them and the third one, Revelations (2020), was a mix of rock and disco. 

I think Guinness’ voice is better suited for disco in its various forms. She’s an excellent singer, not just in a technical sense, but in the way she can use her voice to convey different sentiments. Guinness can go the European disco diva route, like Dalida in the late 1970s, in songs like “Love & Destruction” and “Burn.” She can take her voice into an ironic ‘80s post-disco realm, like with “Volcano” and bring in an early ‘00s Goldfrapp vibe on “Mishima.” Then she can get all torch singer on listeners, as with the closing track “Time.” 

Also interesting— and this should really be a selling point for the album— is that Guinness employed a 34-piece orchestra for the album. In an interview for L’Officiel, she said, “It sounds extravagant, but for me, it was essential that there be real musicians—that we not resort to [using] artificial intelli- gence, to which I am totally opposed.”

Singles and videos from the album began to drop last year and I’ve played the Hercules & Love Affair remix of “Hip Neck Spine” in my sets here and there, but, this is an album that really should be heard in full. Now that I’ve done that a few times, I prefer the album versions to the club remixes. I do recommend checking out the videos, which are all very clever. My favorite is the clip for “Volcano,” which is directed by David LaChapelle and references the fantastic the 1978 thriller Eyes of Laura Mars. 

To be honest, I still don’t know which songs will make it into my sets. I think this is one of those albums that I’m just going to have to drop in full into Rekordbox and figure it out on the fly. 

Liz O. is an L.A.-based writer and DJ. Read her recently published work and check out her upcoming gigs.

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