EP Review: Kisses - dOP

Having just got back from on tour this new EP on Circus Company sees dOP bring back some new influences and a fresh sound.

'Your Feelin'' on side-A is a synth-pop / soul / house blend that conjures thoughts of sweaty nights of unfulfilled promise on the dance floor. It is the result of meeting of minds with Pillowtalk when in San Francisco - this being what the two groups ended up collaborating on once dOP were back in Berlin. Pillowtalk have already impressed with their mixture of house and R&B and this shines just as bright - it's a strangely sparse track for either group. The restraint creates an uneasy tension, giving the vocals a neediness that feels like a vice gripping the vocalist tighter so he can't escape.

'Kisses' is similarly withdrawn but more reflective. The gentle looping chords and deep drums form a very minimal texture to a track that sees the trio pause for thought and give thanks. It's both deep and contemplative, bittersweet in its execution, gradually building around a mood.

The Kisses EP also comes with an acapella version of 'Your Feelin'' and an instrumental of 'Kisses', but your focus should really be on the two original versions, which boast a greater subtlety than expected.

Kisses is released on Monday through Circus Company, available for pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [affiliate link].

EP Review: Baby Let Me Finish - Bwana

Having previously signed tracks to Diplo's Mad Decent this is Bwana's debut release for Somethinksounds. And it's a pretty good start for the 21 year old Canadian-born kid from Leeds.

'Baby Let Me Finish' is a tight but soulful dub-step track built around a pitched up female vocal. The style feels a little like the sunny tracks of Joy Orbison meets the vocals of Burial. This is a spacious track - the filtered bass and treble heavy claps create a lot of ambience but the cut-up vocal sound adds complexity and wraps it up into a soulful package.

Three additional mixes make up the release including one masquerading as an original track in 'Nami Swan'. This transforms it into a Euro deep house with a melancholic bassline and early nineties synthetic drums. It's a brilliant demonstration of Bwana's versatility.

The other remixes remain truer to the original. The 14th Remix retains much of the original but gives it a less stuttering feel - it is just a step closer to rolling drum 'n' bass territory and here the vocal is more natural with less tweaking.

The final mix - the Black Orange Juice remix - is slower, with a bouncing bass line. It plays with layers of the vocal, adding different pitches and a new mail counterpart. It is more commercial than the others but sadly lacks a lot of the thrill of the original.

Overall Baby Let Me Finish is a quality release. Given his apparent versatility it will be interesting to see what direction Bwana evolves his sound into.

Baby Let Me Finish is released on 30 July through Somethinksounds.

Single Review: Eroica - Royalty

Royalty's debut EP caught my ear a few months back, duo Chesca and Yorke creating a selection of polished dark Italo pop moments. If that was the promise this might be the pay off.

Whatever slight rough edges existed on their debut EP are nowhere to be found here. Title track 'Eroica' emerges from the depths like a seductive harlot through crude oil - shimmering jet black and irresistible. Dark stabs of grit and bass punctuate the rhythm whilst the vocals encourage us to kiss on the dance floor. It's almost all a bit too much, big snare drums drowning in reverb against cinematic melodies and amped emotions.

Along with the original and an instrumental version Yorke turns in his own Atlantean mix, which slows it down to a mean funk - this is what R&B would sound like if it was made for grimey basements with beers and Jack rather than stadiums and champagne flutes. An incessant key tone marks out the chorus with a hint of determination that perfectly reflects that of the vocals.

The other original track comes in the form of 'Vector Glide'. The name befits the track's straight lines and menacing atmosphere. Opening with thick analogue bass and crisp hard drums it is what your Tron dreams sound like - an electronic gravy of Com Truise and John Carpenter.

Royalty's sleazy cosmic pop hits just right - if you like Chromatics, Glass Candy et al you won't be disappointed.

EP Review: Changes EP - Francesca Lombardo

As Crosstown Rebels approach their 100th release they show little signs of showing and this debut release from Francesca Lombardo instantly marks her out as one to watch.

Classically trained in piano, Lombardo transitioned to electronic music and started work on Changes after a chance meet with Crosstown Rebels label owner Damian Lazarus at the Miami Winter Music Conference last year. Taking twelve months to create the result is an EP that evidences a producer's hand much more refined than you would expect from a debut release yet. It's a varied suite though - the subtler moments balanced at times with more overtly dance floor focused tracks.

Things open with the title track. Of the four songs included here it is one of the more balanced moments, a groove based minimal tech cut. Expect filtered and distorted vocals and some big melodic keys contrasting a big kick drum.

Next up is the ethereal 'Is It True', an atmospheric piece with brittle vocals and watery echoes. It certainly isn't a dance floor cut despite some big bass and at times large drums. The melodic synth that creates the track's climax and plays out to the end mirrors a sparse beauty in this track and as good as 'Changes' is it is helplessly out-outshined here.

On side B 'Old School Anna' is the most focused dance track, a Detroit influenced minimal track with jacking drums and hi-hats. It's a pretty amazing contrast to know this came from the same head as 'Is It True' and yet I can't help but admire the ambition and versatility in that contrast. The EP closes with 'Sofiel', which maintains a tight bassline and some shuffling drum patterns whilst treating itself with a series of warm melodic pads and a lush progressive ambience.

Changes is released through Crosstown Rebels on 16 July on vinyl and 30 July digitally. You can pre-order the digital release through Amazon.co.uk [affiliate link].

Get a taste of Lombardo's work by streaming her Crosstown Rebels mix on Soundcloud below:

EP Review: Teen Collection - Hot Jam 96 by Various Artists

This latest release from VisionQuest features not just one artist but three. The whole release plays with VisionQuest's trademark tech influenced house sound and is geared up for summer but aside from that this represents a pretty varied release.

The EP opens with Lauren Lane who enlists Jaw from dOP to create 'Lazer Eyes', a soulful cut with a disco edge. It has the crisp treble and deep base of a more minimal track but there is pretty obvious crossover potential in the sun flecked guitars and sultry falsetto vocals.

Next up is 'Alice' from QBeck featuring Julia Govor and it is a very different track. Govor's feminine vocals are fragile and yet even more sultry whilst the track itself is dark tech-house. It is a well balanced track though, with a bridge of slowly collapsing rhythms and just the right amount of loose jazz in the shakes and live bongos to offset the heavy, clinical bass line the runs through the majority of the song.

The final track comes from Clarion, one half of Footprintz - whose 'Utopia' was VisionQuest's second release in March last year. Here he closes this EP out with 'All Over All Kinds' and it is closer to the 'Alice' than 'Lazer Eyes' in it's minimal tech sound. Once again it's a vocal track with Clarion providing his own tones for a dark and deep epic synth journey. It borrows liberally from Art Department's sound but feels a little less hamstrung by its own ambition - this feels enjoyable in ways that, for me at least, their music never really has.

All in all a nice set, though the tracks are sufficiently different that it is unlikely all three will rest easy in any single DJ's box.

Teen Collection - Hot Jam 96 is out through VisionQuest now.