- Those of you who caught Wolf + Lamb label boss Zev Eisenberg's excellent Life From Sunset podcast last month will already be familiar with the title track of London-based producer and (full disclosure) RA employee jozif's new EP. Filtered disco samples and a looped female vocal are merely a prelude to what makes this track stand out among so many similar efforts, namely a glorious breakdown of gorgeous piano (played by jozif himself) and beautifully evocative strings. Its low BPM might mean that most DJs will shy away from playing this on all but the deepest of dance floors, but to my ears the exultant track is firmly in the peak time camp, and it would be a crime not to expose as many people as humanly possible to it.
The Mat Playford mix, by comparison, is big, bold and brash. Aiming at more of a lounge/bar audience, it starts out fine, but Dire Straits-esque plucking during the breakdown misses the mark completely and edges the track dangerously close to drowning in a sea of lost credibility. It only takes about 17 seconds for you to fall in love with "Jus You," however. That's when the main vocal sample first flickers into life. jozif appears on the piano shortly afterward, and from then on it's a lazy, lovely journey through deep house/nu-disco territory, taking in a throbbing bassline, chopped, croaking vocals and simple, effective keys.
"We R Child" is a more pumping dance floor-friendly effort—a reimagining of Empire of the Sun's "We Are the People" without the whining voices—and demonstrates jozif's ability to effectively up the tempo when required. A superb package and hopefully the start of a prolific relationship between label and producer.
Tracklist01. Chicago
02. Jus You
03. We R Child
04. Chicago (Mat Playford's Weird Police remix)