- Back in 2005, Afrilounge were hitting the sweet spot with tracks such as ‘Just For a Little Peek’ and their remix of ‘Body Language’, but then the next year…nothing, and I don’t know about you, but I kinda forgot to keep track of them. Bit of an idiot move, it turns out, because their new 12” on Connaisseur is excellent – good enough to make you want to track down the three or four new records they’ve put out recently on smaller labels such as 8bit and Kassette.
Already the centrepiece of Steve Bug’s Fabric 37 comp, A-side ‘Lux Dementia’ is one of those tracks that just stands out. Opening as pleasantly brooding minimal/tech/whatever, the tune at first seems too shy to get your heart rate up…but then – bam! – suddenly a piano riff arrives – the most crystal clear you’ve heard in ages – and you realize you’re dancing to a winner. But there’s more: Lesser producers would be content to just to leave it at that and cruise-control until fade out, but Afrilounge are know what they're doing: the piano reveals itself to be a sample, subtly filtering, reversing and sweeping techno-style to maintain momentum until the close. Jeez, deep house must be back – who would have thought the freshest sound of 2007 would be a piano?
B-side ‘Gêne’ is inevitably a more modest affair, but well suited for long, long mornings, with warm Valhalla synths that will especially stop clubbers from thinking about heading home.
I'm sorry, Afrilounge, for forgetting about you!
TracklistA Lux Dementia
B Gêne