- Patrick Holland, AKA Project Pablo, moved to Montreal a few years ago, but he brought the sound of his hometown Vancouver with him. Holland's records and mixes have the same rock- and jazz-influenced sense of melody of his Canadian Riviera counterparts. Sometimes even more, as evidenced by the remarkably jaunty "Closer," which was one of the summer's definitive tracks in certain circles. Following a string of EPs for Clone Royal Oak, Magicwire and his new SOBO label, Holland returns to his other label, ASL Singles Club. This time it's a collaboration with Montrealer Francis Latreille called Jump Source.
The two sound good together on Guide To Action, but it's difficult to say exactly what Latreille, who DJs as Francis Oak, adds aside from a sense of amiable jamming. Project Pablo tracks already sound live, as if they were written and recorded on the fly, which carries over to EP highlight "All My Love Is 'Free'." The duo riff on a catchy vocal sample with a vibraphone motif, creamy chords, an earworm of a bassline and a piano solo. It touches on many different things—Chicago house, the Vancouver sound, smooth jazz—making it familiar no matter what angle you're coming from. The same comfort extends to "Empathy Mix," a slow, breaks-driven tune with synth licks that waft through the air like smoke rings.
Latreille and Holland take another spin on that one with "Crusade Mix," which offers less space for introspection and more room for movement. What it lacks in easygoing charm it makes up for with a hallucinatory midsection full of sampled grunts, cries and hand percussion, proving that Jump Source can own harder sounds, too. Guide To Action ends with its title track and most reflective moment, where a warm bassline worms its way around the downtempo rhythm, creating a downright hummable melody without interrupting the track's slow pace. That balance between relaxation and momentum is what makes Holland's best work so hard to resist.
TracklistA1 Empathy Mix
A2 Crusade Mix
B1 All My Love Is "Free"
B2 Guide To Action