If Israeli DJ Yahel (Sherman) was a time and place, he’d be Goa circa 1994-98. The scene of psychedelic trance music at the height of its popularity. A ‘90s throwback he may be, but a supremely adept one all the same.

On Super Set II, Yahel continues where he left off on 2005’s Super Set. And that’s rising to the unique challenges thrown up by dance music. As Aardvark Records director, Alex di Savoia, explains, it’s difficult to “sustain interest in a track that’s running at 7 or 8 minutes in length and it takes skill to keep something that long fresh and interesting without sounding repetitive.”

Not that Yahel’s a one-man band. There’s a number of collaborators who chip in on the writing, singing and producing front on Sherman’s sixth album. They include Guy Zigdon, Blake Reary, and Tammy Federman.

Zigdon is a fellow Israeli and his Depeche-Mode-influenced lyrics and vocals on ‘Tears’ get the record off to a darkly delicious start. Reary, meanwhile, on second track ‘Hanging On’ whips out what sounds like a vocoder for some eerie high jinks. Leaving Federman to provide the album’s soul on the anthemic ‘Ocean’.

Currently rated the number 28 DJ in the world, Yahel won’t be for long. For Super Set II sees him moving onwards and upwards. Top 10 here he comes.

(3½/5)