Paris producer /multi-instrumentalist Quiet Dawn made his debut on First Word Records back in 2014. Since that time, he’s worked on numerous remixes and production for other artists, but his last release as a solo artist came back in 2018, when he released Human Being • The Short Story Of The Reed. Now he’s back with a new solo EP, Movements.

For this project, Quiet Dawn specifically worked without a theme or concept, because he just wanted to create whatever came naturally and have fun with it. Building the songs around Rhodes, piano, synths, percussions, vocals, bass and guitars, Quiet Dawn has given us a lot of fun grooves to dance to on this EP. The music on the EP can mostly be classified as broken beat, but that makes sense when you consider he’s on the same label as Kaidi Tatham and Children of Zeus. What this means in a practical sense is that it is dance music that leans heavily in the jazz direction. The funky beat is always there to dance to, but the chord changes and melodies have a layer of sophistication to them that really allows for a close listen where you can get into the weeds and appreciate the high level of musicianship that Quiet Dawn is bringing to the party. That said, this still is a party, and Quiet Dawn named this EP Movements because it’s first and foremost for the dancers, hoping to spread some joy and lift some spirits as we trudge through this pandemic.

If you’ve never spent that time with Quiet Dawn, Movements is a great place to start. It’s complex and layered music that will excite the most discerning ears, but it’s also just incredibly funky and fun to dance to. Quiet Dawn put a lot of work into his compositions, but more importantly, he put a lot of joy into his playing.