To say the release of this EP's tracks is long-awaited would be a terribly gross understatement, so it's with much fanfare and general HQ excitement that we announce the sophomore release from the monstrously talented Ross From Friends.
Having been circulating on the net for a fair while now, 'Talk To Me You'll Understand' finally arrives with a fresh mastering, but still thudding along with those scuffed Reebok drums and soaked into fuzzy, stomach-squeezing low-pass filter. All soft chords, soothing vocals, deep-sea bass and skittering hats.
Middle-man 'Gettin' It Done' is a solid label favourite. Less the full vocal flourishes and more the tinkered & chopped MPC underpinned by more dusty drum work that just grows in impact as the track goes on. One for late running and early morning truckin'.
Last but not least comes the R'n'B-inflicted house jam 'Bootman'. Although it takes a good couple of minutes to get going, this is pure 2016 date playlist vibes. Slip the iPhone into the restaurant system and watch the silk melt down from the walls, the tables coat in velvet and ever-lasting passion effervesce from the heaving masses. Proper nawteeee.
Sweely comes crashing through the windows of the Distant Horizons beach house HQ with a humungous, stomping, NY-Jersey inspired EP that combines war drum level percussion with soulfully flowing vocals and lush pads galore.
All The Reasons has done the rounds for a while now and it's an absolute monster. Massive heaving kicks rumble under clattering hats and a soft, woozy pad and hawt-as-hell vocal flourishes.
Following on a similar tip, Around is a more extended affair, morphing from a brooding down-pitched moaner to a arm-throwing, hip-slinging Jersey banger straight outta NYC. On the flip, Yes He Is keeps the New York house vibes flowing on a slightly more low slung tip. One for the slow summer Sunday terrace dance. Lastly, Blue Faces takes a plunge into the deep blue, skin fizzing with the cold caress of salt-water and seaweed on freshly sun-kissed skin. One for the sunset and sea-lovers.
Aussie DJ and producer DJ Life has been a name on everyone’s lips since surfacing as one of progressive dance music’s most exciting emergers. Stellar releases have come on Dansu Discs and Echocentric Records, with remixes from fellow prog-trance-techno influencers Adam Pits and Rudolf C, cementing his place at the top of the long-blend rise.
Now, debuting on Distant Horizons, DJ Life produces four typically entrancing cuts of hypnotic, stylish and straight-up fun dance music with its crosshairs fixated firmly on those dark, sweaty, underground nights.
Coco Bryce summons his Chavinski alias for a bass-heavy mystical journey through garage, house and 2-step with a sublime 5 track EP for Distant Horizons.
Ocean-depth subs underpin this EP as a heavy dose of UKG is thread through the A-side with the club-ready tones of 'Baby' and 'Hit The Way' loading up the 2-step influence for some seriously heavy wobblers. The side is finished out with the proto digi-dub vibes of 'Buy A Dream'. A short yet glorious centre pivot for the EP.
On the flip we're into some heavy groovin' deep house territory. 'Fantasy' is loaded up with classic timbres and slightly tranquilised vocals plus a buzzing LFO-tweaked bassline. A modern classic fusion of US house music and low-end UK sounds. 'Rushin' steps us to the end with a natural miniature breakbeat riding across a once-again nostalgic rhythm and bass interplay with vocal snips and gentle, melodic organ stabs weaving in and out of focus.
Adam BFD first burst onto the scene with his colourful, emotive driven productions; making a name for himself as an artist bridging the gap between electro, breaks and house. Now based in Paris, his work continues to put a nostalgic and animated spin on his far-reaching influences, from London to Mexico City and beyond. In the time since Adam’s introduction a series of singles and a recent EP on Running Out of Steam has seen the musician further refine and develop his sonic palette and Embrace coming by way of Distant Horizons is no exception. The five track EP covers many life cycles and no matter how mature, Adam’s tracks never lose the ability to make people move.
Adam starts by embracing the unknown in Le Voyage with its frenetic breaks and glistening melodies opening up a pathway to the stars, before space opens and time resides in Flotus; a special heart-searching moment, balanced by springly, danceable grooves. I Mean It gently unravels with tangible percussion and daydreaming textures, vocal loops becoming increasingly hypnotic as time stands still.
It’s not just Adams pacing that’s impressive, but his ability to turn real world sounds into fully functional elements heard in title track Embrace. Water moves freely over tightly packed drums and arpeggiated synths; a piece of tranquility ready when needed. Which Gate follows with pensive field recordings and cloud-formations; jerking breaks leaping back and forth in another special EP from a producer just getting started.
London producer Yosh continues his hot streak of putting out a twelve inch a month with typically breaksy, UK focused EP on Distant Horizons that further earmarks the emerging artist as one of the producers to watch in 2021.
Following releases on Time Is Now and an announcement on Desert Sound Colony’s Holding Hands sub-label, Yosh serves up four steppers that navigate us from the doors of the club to front left of the speaker. ‘Don’t Say’ is a fast cut of subby breakbeat-garage; the producer’s knack for emotionally stimulating vocal samples and peak-time basslines moving into the frame.
‘All That Acid’ gives squirming acid lines and stripped-back percussion, mutating the breaksy, UK energy into something more electro focused, and in doing so provides what could be the score for an old racing video game, before ‘Choose One’ takes us back into familiar Yosh territory with a cut of dreamy garage, with the odd dubby wobble for good measure.
We finish on a personal note with ‘Home’, a cut that epitomises that good feeling that can only come with returning to a place of comfort; relaxed atmospherics and 2-step rhythms providing the perfect warm up number.
Distant Hawaii’s 19th release comes from French artist and former CONCRETE resident, Sweely. Drawing from a far reaching pool of influences, Sweely swings effortlessly between electro, house, minimal and beyond. The ‘You Can Try This’ EP is testament to Sweely’s innate ability to craft a groove.
After a 2020 that saw releases on Running Out Of Steam and Object of Desire, M4A4 brings his laid back house & garage stylings to Distant Horizons on Undercover Castle.
Opening track Avera is a skeletal 4x4 stomper, lined with a whompy bass & crystalline chords while Sunriser is a more dubbed out, hazy house roller. The flip side opens with the sensitive minimal 2-step cut She and New City’s bubbling bassline ensure the release ends on a groovy tip!