BLESSED MADONNA, THE - Godspeed - 2LP

Godspeed might be Marea Stamper's debut album, but it's not exactly her first. She completed a whole different LP and then shelved the project entirely when the pandemic hit. Fast forward to 2021 and she was without a record deal, her father had died and the future was far from certain. The party seemed like it might have been over. But instead of giving up, she started all over again.

Stamper dusted off a few tracks, made some new ones and sent them around. Three years and "thousands of hours" of work later, she finished Godspeed, a living, breathing behemoth of a house music album whose journey was so complex and unpredictable that the title wasn't even decided until just a day before finishing the LP. The result is an all-encompassing look at a seasoned raver, expressed in an age-old way: music that celebrates the power of music itself, surrounded by friends and family to share in that joy with.

The album is a labour of love, an homage to Stamper's roots that also updates it for the future. It's a little bit retro, a little bit futuristic, a bit pop and a bit avant-garde, full of sputtering drum patterns and left turns that frame the rawness of proto-house as the sound of now. It's uplifting but realistic about the world, covering the spectrum of human emotions instead of focusing on escapism. Or, as Stamper says: "Same shit, new soundtrack."

“Godspeed: the word marks the beginning of a journey and sometimes the end of one”. “After nearly a year in lockdown, when I signed the paperwork and knew that I was going to be allowed to make this album, I called my dad in Kentucky to tell him the good news. He could not contain his pride and in a way his relief. I was going to be ok. He says it better than I do at the beginning of the record. I lost him suddenly just weeks before the first session, but his voice will live in Godspeed forever and make a million more journeys to everyone who hears it.

This is a welcome and a farewell. The end of a journey and the beginning. A clock running out and an alarm. These are the days running over the hills like wild horses and nights that never end. There is no second of this album that was not touched, heard, shaped and believed in by The Godsquad, and first and foremost my twin, my brother Pat Alvarez.

And then by some miracle Jon and Dom from Sportsbanger appeared and seemed to instantly understand how to get inside of this project and speak on my behalf in visual ways. They saw me immediately and helped me make sense. To be able to trust them was a relief, a vindication and a blessing. I have no higher respect for any group of artists.

So here it is: This is Godspeed. This is your chance. Now do your dance.”