Dance music is facing a renaissance. As the EDM movement has grown and grown, the artistic nature of music and dj-ing has slowly become a thing of the past. With epic productions that include huge LED screens, lasers, smoke, confetti, and more being launched from massive festival stages, what used to be the music of club culture has evolved into somewhat of an ugly beast. Fans go to shows and spend most of their time facing in one direction, elevating the DJ as an almost god-like figure, with everyone in the audience attracted to the stage in packed clusters.

Well, fear not, as Despacio is here to save the day. The brainchild of James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, brothers David and Stephen Dewaele of 2ManyDJs, and famed audio engineer John Klett, the point of the project is to provide extremely high quality audio while basically placing the DJs behind a wall at the back of the room. The goal is to de-emphasize the DJ, and re-emphasize the music, the quality of the audio, and the experience itself. There is also an emphasis on slowing things down (despacio means slow in Spanish), to create a more funky and naturally danceable vibe. The DJs make sure to pick recognizable songs by Talking Heads, Queen, and Kraftwerk while mixing in deeper-cut dance tracks.

James Murphy uses an interesting analogy to describe the intent behind this, explaining:

“If you are in a restaurant, the chef isn’t at the front of the room throwing food at you. He’s in the kitchen and when the food comes out you are with the food and not with the chef.”

Despacio itself is not your typical sound system. The speaker cabinets surround the dance floor, instead of being located at the front of the room. The huge speaker towers themselves are absolutely beautiful, having been designed using natural wood casings by McIntosh, the same company that built the Grateful Dead‘s famous “Wall of Sound” in the 1970s. Vinyl is the only medium that can be used with this system, giving the sound a throwback feel and a more natural vibe, as all of the crackles and pops of the vinyl shine through for an extremely clear presentation of the music.

Despacio is certainly powerful. As the Dead’s “Wall of Sound” required 30,000-watts to run, this huge audio system requires 50,000-watts. David Dewaele touches on the ridiculous power of the system, saying that it “runs at 20 percent. If we ran the system at its full capacity, people would die. People’s ears would literally be bleeding.” How ridiculous!

To be honest, the best way to experience Despacio would be in-person. Since the project’s debut in Manchester, England in 2013, fans have been dying to experience the unique dance party, but due to the large size of the sound system, the project’s appearances have been few and far between. After 2014 appearance at Barcelona’s tech-forward Sonár Festival in Barcelona and a two-week residency at this year’s Coachella, Despacio will be making its grand arrival on Murphy’s home turf here in New York City at the upcoming Panorama Festival. Murphy and the Dewaele brothers will perform a six hour, vinyl-only set on all three days of the festival, from 3pm-9pm each day.

Learn all about Despacio from this interview with Murphy and 2ManyDJs below, and also check out videos of “Despacio” in action from Sonár and Coachella festivals.

James Murphy and 2ManyDJs talk Despacio, courtesy of The Vinyl Factory

Despacio at Sonár 2014, courtesy of YouTube user wiky79

Despacio at Coachella 2016, Weekend 2, courtesy of YouTube user kenton k.

[quotes from Murphy and Dewaele taken from their 2013 interview with Wired]