- Smallpeople released their debut album, Salty Days, last June. The LP mainly served to extend the suave, chord-oriented deep house that Julius Steinhoff and Just von Ahlefeld have been releasing these past few years, both as owners of Smallville and artists in their own right. But there were a few outliers—grittier tracks that were more like denim than the usual velvet. As its title may imply, the duo's first record since then explores this tangent more thoroughly.
For instance: the sharp motif of "Ninja Restaurant" doesn't caress so much as niggle. On the title track, a mildly abrasive lead is bolstered by huge drums, sounding more M>O>S Recordings than Smallville. Even "Nofretete," the politest of the three cuts, loses its sense of serene lucidity through fluttering synths and claps constantly obscuring the spectrum. And yet, the duo's love of plush chord work is never far from the surface. Like cereal and milk, it's a well-balanced combination. Not everyone could pull it off, though if there's one thing Smallpeople are good at it, it's tidy arrangements. In the Jungle is further proof of that.
Tracklist A Nofretete
B1 Ninja Restaurant
B2 In The Jungle