Utopia, with its minimal sonic palette and striking coherence, is an album to be listened to in one sitting. The singers E ST, Max Jury and Wayne Snow joined Darius for this project, giving the whole a powerful vocal breath. Despite the vast landscape it unfolds, Utopia is not maximalist: its range of emotions is simple, direct; they caress the ears and bring out their blues. The album is an invented and fantasized world of music, hence Utopia. It draws from the classic repertoire of the 60s or 70s, such as soul, Californian pop, German and African psychedelia. At the same time, it speaks the languages of today, post-Dilla hip-hop, digital dancehall or early-2000s British breakbeat. One can also perceive an echo of 90s Bristol in the way it makes melancholy voluptuous, almost desirable, and finds vital energy in despair.