In the world of superstar DJs, Gui Boratto is hardly typical. He's humble, avoids drugs, and works best after a good, early morning breakfast. And yet, this Brazilian has become one minimal techno's heaviest hitters, and inked a deal with Germany's prestigious Kompakt label. The ascent started with Boratto's 2007 breakthrough album Chromophobia but reaches new heights with Take My Breath Away, a record that ditches the angular, dark room floor burners for a warmer, sun-baked ambiance that's laid-back but hardly simple.
"I tried to make this album like a book, where there is a definite beginning, middle and end," Boratto says. "I didn't want to just choose 11 club tracks and throw them on an album because, to me, that's not an album. I try to make different nuances - to make the listen interesting from when you press play until the end of the story."
Boratto's tracks shift from abstract to sentimental to blissed-out euphoria, sounding as fit for the dance floor as they are the hi-fi. The producer's heavy-lidded trance and mid-tempo tension still take centre stage, but now with more real bass, synth and guitar entering the digital fray. Boratto calls it a "more mature" direction and one he hopes makes Take My Breath Away a welcomed evolution, not a departure.
"We change a bit every day and this album is more me today, where I'm more into melodies and textures rather than rhythms like I was on Chromophobia," he says. "In a way, the whole record is meant to sound more organic and more humanized. There are a lot of different moods in this album, and music is the only thing that has the power to make you feel happy or sad for no reason; it's just melodies and harmonies that are changing your emotions. And hopefully, this record gives balance."
"I tried to make this album like a book, where there is a definite beginning, middle and end," Boratto says. "I didn't want to just choose 11 club tracks and throw them on an album because, to me, that's not an album. I try to make different nuances - to make the listen interesting from when you press play until the end of the story."
Boratto's tracks shift from abstract to sentimental to blissed-out euphoria, sounding as fit for the dance floor as they are the hi-fi. The producer's heavy-lidded trance and mid-tempo tension still take centre stage, but now with more real bass, synth and guitar entering the digital fray. Boratto calls it a "more mature" direction and one he hopes makes Take My Breath Away a welcomed evolution, not a departure.
"We change a bit every day and this album is more me today, where I'm more into melodies and textures rather than rhythms like I was on Chromophobia," he says. "In a way, the whole record is meant to sound more organic and more humanized. There are a lot of different moods in this album, and music is the only thing that has the power to make you feel happy or sad for no reason; it's just melodies and harmonies that are changing your emotions. And hopefully, this record gives balance."
