- Over the last two years house music has become a tad bit obsessed with deepness. As a result, releases have begun to sound formulaic: Take some mellow pads, add a bit of tried-and-tested African American vocal samples and work in some classic Rhodes piano lines and voilà: deep house a la mode. So how does a producer operating in this genre differentiate himself? One way suggested by Hunee is, curiously, to follow the classic recipe, use the best ingredients and cook with a bit of flare.
While this is merely the producer's second release, the Korean-Berliner comes off as a seasoned expert. "Rare Silk" is built around a frenetic kick drum sequence that threatens to careen off a 4-4 pattern. Hunee fuses the hectic beat with a frantic skat vocal. Some might self-consciously describe it as "soulful," but most would also agree it's straight up funky and creative. Meanwhile, on "Cut Down Trees," things are more subdued rhythmically but still melodically busy. Here, a slightly tribal drum pattern is surrounded by fluttering strings and what might be xylophone or wind-chime samples.
Still, for all of the bravado on display in the first two tracks, the clear winner on the EP is "Tour de Force." Building around a stuttering Rhodes piano line, the track quickly veers off the well-trodden deep house path by throwing in blasts of ravey synths and a chugging bassline that would fit just at home on any Prins Thomas or Lindstrom release. It manages to fuse the physicality of house music with the experimentation of the best alternative disco, evoking the likes of Arthur Russell or Daniel Wang, proving you can still be "deep" while making a gorgeous, abstract mess of melodies and rhythms.
Tracklist A Rare Silk
AA Cut Down Trees
B Tour De Force