UK house imprint Act Natural kicked off last month with a purposeful release that featured Camiel Daamen, Claire Ripley and Matt Tolfrey and its second release, from the prolific Huxley, looks set to continue the strong start.Backed with a remix from the hotly tipped Mic Newman of FINA, Freerange and Murmur as well as an interpretation from the perpetual safe hands that is Chris Lattner, Huxley’s ‘Shower Scene’ is a weighty package that’s already picking up support from Diskjokke, 6Th Borough Project, Clive Henry and Danny Howells.
Huxley, having carved out quite a name for himself with his retro leaning deep house for Morris Audio and Tsuba, plays to his considerable strengths on lead cut ‘Shower Scene’ – a skippy, sample-led piece of NY house no doubt fuelled by studious appreciation of Todd Terry. Never afraid of a hook, the British producer employs all manner of vocal drops to supplement a weighty bassline and chord combo to great effect.
Mic Newman’s remix of ‘Shower Scene’ takes the original vocals and weaves them into a shuffling and melodic number which manages to sound lazy and low slung while retaining a direct-to-the-dancefloor feel.
The second, of three, original tracks on the EP is ‘Like One’. Much like its predecessor, it’s old school credentials are impeccable and with clever arrangement, beautifully balanced production and mellower vibe, it’s the perfect foil to ‘Shower Scene’.‘Like One’ in remix form, courtesy of Chris Lattner, is a modernist deep house version which strips things back to a flicker of the original melody and a heavily vocoded vocal. Bassy, smooth, warm and precise – it’s a remix that sees Lattner do what he does best.
Finally, the live sounding drums, staccato bass and minor keys of ‘Terrorised’ rounds things off in a darker, disco-tech vibe suits the tone of the moody spoken vocal refrain brilliantly.
This is a great second release from yet another noteworthy fledgling label….
Connect with BPM