RICHARD COOMBES – REVIEWS – PROG HOUSE – BREAKS
RICHARD COOMBES REVIEWS – PROG HOUSE – BREAKS – ZONE ZAGAZINE iSSUE 047
Into The Ether “Downtown EP” [Anjunadeep Explorations] – 10/10 – TOP TUNE!
Into The Ether makes a majestic return to Anjunadeep’s sister label Anjunadeep Explorations, after his “Keep Trying EP” released on the label back in September 2024. His debut EP was well received and had the stamp of approval from label boss James Grant’s after he featured two tracks from the EP on his “Movement Vol. 1” compilation.
Continuing his rich vein of form, the “Downtown EP” does not disappoint and features four finely crafted slices of melodic breaks and electronica.
The EP title track “Downtown” is a classy, uplifting tune that features meandering melodies and broken beats that sit on top of a warm fuzzy bass line, perfect for summer.
“The Final Stretch” has a slightly more melancholy vibe with a deep sub bass and hunting vocal that is tied together with some really nice chords.
The third track “Spectre” again employs a deep bass line and with contrasting light synth melody and uplighting vocal elements.
Finally the “The Watcher” wraps things up on the EP, here Into The Ether uses crisp punchy percussion to deliver a more driving feel to the track. Lush pads and some intricate synth work really makes the track sparkle.
Great work here by Into The Ether, who manages to weave his trademark sound throughout the EP whilst keeping each track sounding unique.
Juli Lee feat. DeVaux “The Art Of Walking Away” [Black Stellar Music] – Recommended Release – 9/10
“The Art Of Walking Away” see’s talented Swiss artist and producer Juli Lee join forces with her life long friend DeVaux to skilfully blend intricately sculpted soundscapes and heartfelt poetry to create an immersive aural experience.
Juli Lee’s layered sound design skills, brings real emotional depth to this progressive journey. Crisp percussion, bubbling melodies and soothing pads intertwined with emotive chords, lay the foundations and set the scene perfectly for DeVaux’s melancholic yet uplighting vocals to take you on a journey of sonic story telling.
Juli speaking about the record said “it describes the art of finding peace and feeling gratitude for something that was and will never be again”. This creative partnership between the two friends has certainly combined effectively to deliver a piece of immersive music that truly captures the range and depth of emotions. “The Art Of Walking Away” is a finely crafted piece of electronic art for the modern day.
Steve Parry “Be Happy” [Selador] – 9/10
Hot on the heels of a string of recent quality releases from Steve Parry and Dave Seaman’s ever reliable Selador label, next up is the turn of the labels Co-Head Honcho.
After somewhat of a solo production hiatus since 2020, Steve has definitely caught the production bug once again with a flurry of recent releases. Towards the middle of last year we saw “Won’t You Believe?” which was followed up by one of my favourite tracks from 2024 “Turn up the Juice”.
With his latest solo single “Be Happy”, Steve delivers a no nonsense heads down tune that arrives just in time for the summer. With its bouncy bass line, textured synths and uplifting vocal elements, this tune is certainly designed to light up dance floors across the land.
I first heard Steve play this towards the end of May and after hearing it out in the wild, can confirm that it definitely does what it says on the tin and delivers on the dance floor! This was certainly the stand out tune of the night for me.
Kevin Di Serna & Santor – On Silence EP [Last Night on Earth] – 9/10
Fresh from releasing a host of infectious melodic progressive tunes on prestigious labels such as Nick Warren’s The Soundgarden and Hernan Cattaneo’s Sudbeat label’s, and having previously had releases on Innervisions, Watergate, and All Day I Dream, Kevin Di Serna reunites with fellow Argentinian producer Santor on Sasha’s ever reliable Last Night on Earth label, with a follow to their impressive “Blessway EP” which released on LNOE back in November 2024.
The Argentine duo’s “Silence EP” consists of four quality melodic Progressive House tunes that are tailored to fit various stages and moods of the night.
First up is “On Me” which is an up tempo, emotive and melodic, sun-kissed terrace ready proggy groover that features uplifting vocal elements that sparkle atop of rumbling deep sub bass. “On Me” also features a Dub Mix that strips the vocal back to make more room for the melodic synth and pad elements to shine.
Next up is “Silence” which features crisp percussion, a stabby key riff and sweeping pads. Filtered vocals and acidy elements enter the mix to create a classy uplifting groove leaden tune.
The final track on the EP “Come On” is a really nice deeper track that uses elegant chords and melancholic pads to stir up emotions. Classy stuff here indeed!
John Digweed/Nick Muir/ Spencer Brown – Relentless [Bedrock] – 9/10
Bedrock Head Honcho and Progressive House legend John Digweed teams up with longtime Bedrock collaborator Nick Muir and San Francisco based DJ and Producer Spencer Brown, to create a devastating progressive club weapon that has been destroying dance floors across the globe for some time now, as the tiro have been road testing the tune in its various iterations.
John recently shared a video on his Instagram page of him playing “Relentless” back in August 2024 to close out a packed out arena at Cordoba in Argentina, with the crowd fully locked into John’s progressive journey.
“Relentless” as you’d expect from the talented trio of producers who know how to get a dance floor moving, is a classy progressive house affair that builds from subtle melodies and sweeping uplifting pads before the introduction of vocoded vocals and an infectious acid line. “Relentless” treads the fine line of depth mixed with euphoric elements so well, to deliver a tune that will be undoubtedly be played by discerning Progressive House DJ’s across the land.