Review: During the UK's first lockdown earlier in the year, Jordan Rakei decided to don his occasional Dan Kye alias - used once previously, for an EP of dancefloor-focused cuts on Rhythm Section International back in 2016 - and create a sparkling set that would cheer everyone up. He;'s certainly achieved that with Small Moments, an eight-track set of loose-limbed, inventive and atmospheric club cuts that variously joins the dots between deep house, techno, broken beat, jazz-funk, Latin grooves, jazz-house and his usual effortlessly soulful flavours. It may well be winter, but it's one of the most sun-kissed releases we've heard all year - a brilliant collection of immaculately produced, vividly imagined workouts with real clarity, atmospheric and depth. Do yourself a favour and check it out ASAP!
Review: There's been enough variety and musical detail across Prequel's EPs for Local Talk, Distant Hawaii and Rhythm Section International to suggest that the Aussie artist would be capable of delivering a devastatingly good album or two. Love Or (I Heard You Like Outbreak), his first attempt at a full-length excursion, largely delivers on that promise, delivering an attractive blend of dusty samples, dreamy instrumentation, immaculate beat programming (think hip-hop, deep house, Latin beats, bruk, dancefloor jazz and low-slung disco-funk) and plenty of vivid aural colour. It's a winning combination, with highlights including the peak-time disco-jazz of 'I Tried To Tell Him', the ultra-deep jazz-house epic 'And That's The Story of Their Love', the Latin-bruk haziness of 'Love Is' and the thickset jazz-meets-dancefloor hip-hop flex of 'I'll Never Stop Loving You'.
