What brought Dave Angel back to R&S?

Dave Angel's history with R&S Records goes back to 1991, when label founder Renaat Vandepapeliere heard Angel's Rolling Thunder project and put out the "1st Voyage" EP, one of the records that helped define the label's early sound alongside Aphex Twin, CJ Bolland and Joey Beltram. Thirty-five years later, Angel is back on R&S with a full album, "A Time And Place", out today. The label's own text on the release calls it feeling "less like a return than the continuation of a conversation left unfinished", and after three and a half decades that's not spin: R&S never released a full Dave Angel album the first time round, only that landmark EP.

Why does Robert Owens turning up here matter?

Buried in the quieter part of a 15-track techno album is a genuine deep house event: Robert Owens, the voice behind Fingers Inc's "Bring Down The Walls" and a run of Chicago deep house records that still get played out weekly, sings on "Harmony Serenade". Owens doesn't feature on records casually, and a UK techno originator pulling him into a jazz-and-soul-leaning set is the kind of cross-scene pairing that legacy labels rarely bother funding anymore. It's the single most interesting credit on the tracklist.

What does "A Time And Place" actually sound like?

According to Resident Advisor's original announcement, the record draws on "jazz, soul and improvisation" rather than the harder, more linear techno Angel made his name on in the 1990s. Trumpeter Steve Waterman appears twice, on "Réflexion" and "The Yellow Butterfly"; guitarist Merv Carswell plays on "Sprinkles From Above"; vocalist Aurii Sky sings on "Do You Feel What I Feel". The rest of the tracklist, from "Goddess" and "Turquoise" through "Apocalypse" and closer "FTOG's", stays instrumental. It's a considered, 15-track statement rather than a DJ-tool EP, and it reads like an artist using a legacy label's trust to make the record he actually wants, not a nostalgia victory lap.

"Less like a return than the continuation of a conversation left unfinished."

Where can you catch it live?

Angel has two confirmed UK dates tied to the release: Hoffs in Margate on September 26, and WaterBear Venue in Brighton on October 3. The album is out now digitally at £19.99, with a 3x12" vinyl pressing due to ship in October at £39.99.