- Not long ago, RA published an article about the phenomenon known as "permaretro." That is, young producers leaning heavily on the past in order to sound fresh. Now entering his fifth year of releasing, Arthur Ponchon seems not only to have leant, but to have sat on the ideal.
On the whole, the American producer appears to have pulled it off well. There's a certain carefree vibe here that modern music often struggles to attain. Though the original never made the cut, Trevor Loveys rework of "Clap Your Hands" exemplifies this, with an artless vocal snippet urging us to—anyone?—clap our hands. It sounds like proto hip-hop MCing, before the egos took over. Backed by thick, bouncy bass, it's an adequate party-starter and nothing else. More impressive is "The Hunt Dance," which advances things a few years stylistically, but keeps the vibe mostly innocuous, with Ursula Rucker delivering rapid-fire vocals over staccato piano.
"Hold It" and "Red Light" step back a decade, channelling soul and disco. The former is uptempo and infectious, with lashings of ecstatic keys and vocals. The latter, a straight-up disco track, with only the production quality hinting at its age. Last comes the weakest cut, "Right On." Where the others are charming and accomplish their time-travel missions with relative success, it feels bland and falsely energetic. Perhaps it's because it's the most modern of the bunch. Elsewhere, things are entirely retro. And ergo, fresh.
Tracklist A1 Clap Your Hands (Trevor Loveys Supplied Artwork Sketch)
A2 Hold It (A Little Longer)
B1 Red Light (Shining On Me)
B2 The Hunt Dance (Remix)
B3 Right On (Deep Remix)