Donatell's 'Water, CA' Paints an Imaginary City of Perpetual Dusk

The Los Angeles producer's new album is a brief, breezy set of ambient pop songs filled with retro touches like string vamps and vintage TV commercial snippets. It evokes a fictional city with empty streets and glowing screens, a departure from his earlier R&B work. The project features co-writes with Beyoncé and Chromeo members, but sounds unlike any of his previous releases.

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Daniel Memmi's path to this album runs through high-profile pop collaborations. His co-writing credits include Beyoncé's "Virgo's Groove" from the 2022 album Renaissance, a connection that emerged after Beyoncé's team heard his work with fellow Los Angeles musician Leven Kali. He also contributed to "Give Love to Get Some," a track pairing Chromeo's David