Melliflow is the latest imprint to emerge out of Berlin’s Club der Visionaere-centred scene. Headed up by local DJ-producer Vera and Romanian selector Alexandra, it’s been in the making for some time (with parties under the same name dating back to two summers ago). For their first outing, they call on Luca Cara (a.k.a. Spacetravel), another resident of the German capital who has been riding a steep upwards trajectory over the past year.

The record is only Cara’s second release, dropping with the resolute title Time To Wake Up—an indication of his feeling of having properly landed, perhaps. His debut slipped out via Binh’s Time Passages last July (offering a diverse and useful variety of styles, it still lines the platters of the scene’s best jockeys today), though he’s kept us guessing since.

Time To Wake Up follows much the same format of that debut EP, made up of another four largely differing tunes. Half of the record is devoted to the more stripped-back end of minimal house: the rigidly built “Personal Control” plays around with only a handful of elements—confident in its austerity, Cara maximizes its impact through the ocassional rearrangement of its shaky percussion. It’s put together with mellow moments in mind, a consideration that must also have been given to the rolling “Ambient Microphones.” Over its staunchly low-end bassline, eerie synths, muted keys and distant vocal snippets chop abruptly in and out, creating the feeling of confusion music.

The other half of the record tells a different story: exuberance and joy ooze from the unforgettable “Magic Track,” a cut that has already served as a highlight on many dancefloors for some months now. A loopy dial-up sample and warm chords build to a climactic drop, which eventually flows back casually into that original bouncy pattern. Equally, the funked-up “Strange Experience” brims with happiness, indicating another side to his production that didn’t reveal itself on his moodier debut; however, it’s still his slightly rough construction and marginal imperfections that render it so real, and give the music its depth. With the prospect of a forthcoming Perlon double pack also on the horizon, we can only hope that Cara might be hiding a few more tricks up his sleeve.

Time To Wake Up is scheduled for release on May 30. Pre-order it at Deejay.de and Juno.

Tracklisting:
A1. “Strange Experience”
A2. “Ambient Microphones”
B1. “Personal Control”
B2. “Magic Track”