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In the world of Smote, going further out means going inward. Less a metaphysical journey into inner space, more a physical journey into the ground itself, converging with its roots and vibrations. What's more, a journey right to the heart of its principal architect's daily experience. Smote's fifth release for Rocket Recordings, and their deepest, most fully realised to date. Forged from repetition and mantric intensity and possessed of formidable psychic fortitude, this album prove that the only retro-chic Smote indulge in is liable to go back several centuries. The megalithic monomania of last year's A Grand Stream set a formidable precedent, and Smote's live shows in its wake have gradually built a reputation as visionary seers building audial monuments by cranked amplification and atmospheric intensity alike. Yet these five gnostic serenades offer portals and paradigms anew. Continuing Smote's exploratory mission into heaviness in all its forms. Songs From The Free House sees Foggin exploring a variety of new avenues. Therefore, whilst listeners might align the pantheistic forays into drone-based abandon with previous travellers like Earth and Om, the influence of folk songs and legends, as well as electronic music make their presence felt. "I've been listening to heavy electronic stuff like Puce Mary and The Body" adds Daniel, "Stereotypically guitars are often seen as the instrument for "heavy" music, but the sheer force that's available from electronics is something that will crumble most guitar centred music." Elsewhere a more melodic vocal based structure is writ large amidst these rites and revelations, particularly on The Linton Wyrm, which proceeds from devotional chant to a potent conclusion, also inspired by Foggin's everyday surroundings. Wrought from the earth, transposed to the ether, and now shared with the world at large, this album marks a transcendental journey where Smote render ancient and modern indivisible. Just as traditional music is passed down through generations, Songs from the Free House is where the primal collides with the eternal.

With Agenda EP, Tom Carruthers closes a landmark trilogy on Skylax Records, following Neutralise EP and Deepline. Three records. Fifteen tracks. One coherent vision of machine-driven house music stripped to its raw, functional core. This final chapter dives deeper into direct, club-focused energy, where groove, repetition and tension do the talking. Agenda is less reflective, more physical — built for movement, sweat, and long transitions in dark rooms. Opening track “Chrome” sets the tone: sharp drum programming, metallic pressure, and looping synth phrases that lock the body into motion. “Agenda (Raw Mix)” follows with a tougher, stripped-down approach — no excess, just pure rhythmic insistence rooted in early Chicago jack and warehouse discipline. “Beat Down” pushes further into machine funk territory, where relentless patterns and rugged textures meet in hypnotic repetition. On the flip, “Fade Away” brings a deeper, moodier tension — a late-night track where subtle emotion seeps through minimal structures. Closing cut “What You Want” is classic Carruthers: jacking drums, understated melody, and a groove that feels timeless rather than retro. As with the previous releases, the visual identity is handled by H5, whose modernist, reduced artwork mirrors the sonic philosophy: clarity, impact, and purpose. Agenda EP completes the Skylax trilogy as a statement of intent — not revivalism, not nostalgia, but dance music reduced to its essential elements.

Nightcode EP finds UK deep-house craftsman Jacksonville in full control, lacing warm chords, swinging drums and basslines built for red-lit basements. Across “Nightcode”, “Ecstasy in Starlight”, “Octobers in Love” and “Blind Spot”, he fuses classic Detroit/UK house textures with his own emotional, story-telling touch—timeless deep house for DJs who play past sunrise.

Feedbacks:


Laurent Garnier : Octobers in Love <3 <3 <3
Nick Holder : dope
Gina Breeze (Classic / Get Up / Homoelectric) : Feeling the deepness! Look forward to playing.
Nightmares On Wax (Warp Records) : Ecstasy in starl;ight and Blind spot are my jams !
Josh Wink (Ovum) : Deep, old old school flavored with new school production.
Alexkid (Rawax / FUSE / NG Trax) : Lovely
Lauren Lo Sung (LOLiFE records, e1even records) : Octobers in love is nice!
Dj Hutch (Ambers / Rinse FM) : grooves
Louise Chen (NTS) : This is so so sooo good! Can't wait to play on the radio!
Rob Pearson (Evasive Records / Sine 102.6fm) : Nightcode is the standout for me, will play tonight on Evasive
Eviltron / Paul Donton (Bombis / Triangle) : Blind Spot and Ecstasy in Starlight are the ones on the
D'Julz (Bass Culture) : feeling night code and blind spot . merci!
Junior Sanchez (Strictly Rhythm / Cube Recordings) : Really Cool EP!
DJ Three (Hallucienda.com) : this is all very high quality house that feels very much a
nd_baumecker (Ostgut Ton) : Nightcode and Octobers In Love for me. Quality as usual.
Sasha (Last Night On Earth) : Downloading for Sasha
William Kiss (Rekids) : very nice!
Monty Luke (Rekids / Black Catalogue) : thx for this...
Mystic Bill (Classic / Trax / Relief) : Will try some of these out, thanks!
Carista : beautiful
Crackazat (Freerange / Local Talk) : Sick sick sick
Jhobei (Bizarre Trax / FUSE / Felon 5) : Nice smooth deep
Khadija (Rek'd / Rafiki Collective) : Danke
Ben Sims : Now downloading - will check asap!
DJ Bone (FURTHER) : Very nice tunes here, thanks
Bake (All Caps/Rinse FM) : thank you!
Dj Deep (Deeply Rooted) : very nice tracks!
Oliver $ (Classic Music Company / Play It Down) : nice one!
Tripmastaz (Plant 74) : Nightcode is tight
Harvey Sutherland (MCDE / PPU / Voltaire Records) : couple of nice tunes here!
Anthony Collins (Frank & Tony / Scissor & Thread) : super nice deep tunes
Marcel Dettmann : thx
Voigtmann (Subsequent) : Ecstacy in Starlight is the one!
Gerd (4Lux / Clone) : dope house trax from the phonogramme crew once again!
Groove Armada : Great EP - Love Nightcode, Ocotber is love so good too±
Harri (Sub Club) : nice, will play and support
Jorkes (Freeride Millenium) : ecstasy in starlight..yes yes yes yes
DJ Minx (Women On Wax Recordings) : Every one of these...top tier! I'm on 'em!
DJ Rocca (Nang Records, Mantra Vibes) : Great EP. Nightcode is great, super bassline indeed
Jacques Renault : Ectasy In Starlight for me here!
Geir Aspenes (G-Ha (Sunkissed)) : Thank u
Mark Farina : dig it
Âme (Innervisions) : thanks
Djebali ( ( djebali ) / INFUSE / Freak n Chic) : Love it ! thanks for sharing. Blind Spot is my fav
Jaye Ward (Dalston Super Store / Netil Radio) : wicked release!! night code is a belter!!! thx
Iron Curtis (Mule Musiq, Morris Audio) : thank you!

It’s True What They Say is the debut EP from Edinburgh-based, husband-and-wife duo Sarah/Shaun (pronounced simply Sarah Shaun), aka Sarah and Shaun McLachlan (pronounced “McLochlin”).

“Sarah and I both have a love for nostalgia,” explains Shaun. “We watched that amazing old 80’s Sci-Fi, (John) Carpenter movie, Starman, a few months back. Myself and my brother David used to watch it all the time. We must have been, roughly, 5-7 at the time. I remember loving the movie but the end, you know, with the beautiful, atmospheric, synth ending, I love that particular moment the most - best part of the movie, you know, when he goes home… It’s heartbreaking but stunning, all the same. It’s the music that moves you most… It did when I was 5 and it still does to this day. It must have had some form of a (much deeper) impact on me.”

The duo narrates stories across themes of love, hope, family, friends, dreams and sadness - the good that comes with the bad in everyday life, not just on a personal scale but within a community as well.

“Starbed is the first song I have ever written and just came out of the blue really, with Shaun playing a melody and me singing along,” says Sarah. “It’s simple and just about two people in love. Love songs are always the best songs, after all… Music has been a big part of my life from a young age. I was unwillingly dragged to piano and violin lessons, which I’m thankful for now! I’d say the first band I really became obsessed with growing up were the Beatles, and on the back of that a lot of 60s music and fashion. From then on, I had a love for music.”

“Shaun definitely opened my ears to a lot of sounds and got me thinking about soundtracks and all the noises that can be made,” she goes on. “We love just spending time experimenting in the house with instruments, pedals etc and Ali is a real magician to work with, too…”

The recordings took place over the summers of 2022 and 2023, with fellow Delta Mainline member Ali Chisholm (aka Jaguar Eyes) plus long-term friend and collaborator Gavin King. Further collaboration then came via the ‘net from the (international) likes of Chris Dixie Darley (Father John Misty), Darren Coghill (Neon Waltz) and Daniel Land (The Modern Painters), among others (see a full list of credits below).

Both Sarah and Shaun have a love for uber-soundtrack producers such as Hanz Zimmer, Max Richter, Cliff Martinez plus live acts such as Beach House, Spiritualized, M83, Suicide, Moby and OMD (to name a few). Shaun also credits the work of Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein (from Survive) on the Stranger Things score… “Even a moment in a movie, whether it be just 30 seconds during a particular scene, it grips you,” he says. But there’s something much deeper at play as well. “Music is a healer,” he goes on, “and I write from my own perspective but more so for others. Once I've done my bit, it doesn't belong to me any longer. It belongs to whoever wants it or needs it.”

The result is a cinematic, synth-wavey, dream poppy and downright beguilingly beautiful body of work. And they’re just getting started…

REVIEWS/RADIO/FEEDBACK:

“Starbed is folky, flavoured by pedal steel, cello, and brass. Dust Tears, in stark contrast, is a mini synth-pop rave epic. Part Bicep. Part Human League. Keep Your Eyes Closed summons a mood that’s romantic, but also dark and potentially doomed – like David Lynch’s Twin Peaks meets Cliff Martinez’s Drive score. My pick though is It’s True What They Say, whose interwoven jangle and picking recalls New Order’s more introspective moments (Love Vigilantes, Love Less… ). Drums crashing, cathartic. Guitar raising dramatic arcs. Its chorus a rush, like a reprise of Pains Of Being Pure Of Heart’s ‘Higher Than The Stars’.” BAN BAN TON TON
"Dust Tears sees them sharing vocal duties over a synth foundation reminiscent of Moby’s Go - Artist Of The Week” THE SCOTSMAN
"Woozy pop" NEMONE (Mary Anne Hobbs Morning Show, BBC 6Music)
"Nice one, very David Lynch meets Euro dream pop" YOUTH (Killing Joke, Paul McCartney, U2, The Orb, Spiritualized etc)
"Music sounds killer! Real emotion” DAVID HOLMES
"I’m enjoying it” TIM BRINKHURST aka LONDON (IKLAN, Young Fathers, Callum Easter)
“Oh, this is lovely!” SEAN JOHNSTON (A Love From Outer Space)
"It’s totally my cup of tea with milk and biscuit" BRENT RADEMAKER (Beachwood Sparks/GospelBeach)
"Beautiful, ecstatic electronica! Short and to the point" KEVIN BALES (Spiritualized, Julian Cope, Soulsavers, BE)
"Makes me wanna sit in the sun and sip an Arnold Palmer" CHRIS DIXIE DARLEY (Father John Misty)
“Really beautiful - Cocteau Twins / Spiritualized vibes but has its own thing going on, too - worth checking out!” JULIAN CORRIE (Franz Ferdinand, Miaoux Miaoux)
‘Sounded nice on a sunny day, makes me think of Twin Peaks, nice moods’ EAMON HAMILTON (Sea Power)
"Dealing in nostalgia, no bad thing at all, great to play that (Dust Tears) for you” RODDY HART (BBC Radio Scotland)
“I'll give the vocal tracks a spin before the release." VIC GALLOWAY (BBC Radio Scotland)
"Rather good!" IAIN ANDERSON (BBC Radio Scotland)

CREDITS:

Lyrics, Guitars, Keys, Synths, Drums, Drum Programming, Percussion, Mandolin, Glockenspiel: Shaun McLachlan
Lyrics, Vocals, Keys by Sarah McLachlan
Guitars, Synths, String Arrangements, Drum Programming, Engineering: Jaguar Eyes Percussion/Drums/Effects, Fire Extinguisher: Darren Coghill (Neon Waltz)
Guitars by Daniel Land
Slide Guitar by Chris Dixie Darley (Father John Misty)
Brass by Bruce Michie
Keys, pre-production & engineering on “It’s true what they say”: Gavin King
All produced by Jaguar Eyes and Shaun McLachlan and then mixed at Glasgow’s Chem19 Studios by David McCaulay (From Scotland With Love, Rick Redbeard, BBC TV’s Attenborough and The Mammoth Graveyard score).
Artwork: Jamie Walman (Fourteen Admirals)

MORE INFO:

Although Shaun released a pair of solo singles (When We Dance and Give Your Love To Me) during Lockdown, he will be better known to many via his work as the multi-instrumentalist in Edinburgh band Delta Mainline. With two albums released to date, Oh! Enlightened and Bel Avenir, both rapturously received by fans and critics alike, Delta Mainline have developed an international, cult following. Oh Enlightened (2013) achieved widespread critical acclaim on release, earning the band comparisons to Arcade Fire and Echo & The Bunnymen, while 2019’s Bel Avenir pulled in references to The Flaming Lips, Pink Floyd, David Bowie and krautrock. A third DM album is currently being mixed and due for release later this year…

Forest Drive West returns to Mantis with a double pack of crooked, finely chiseled rhythms and porous, tactile atmospherics. Hovering comfortably between the distinct energies of drum & bass and techno, Joe Baker has helped define the creative upsurge in crossover tempos and tones with a practice that focuses on mood and presence rather than genre tropes. His first releases appeared 10 years ago on influential labels like Livity Sound, Rupture and Hidden Hawaii. He reconvenes on Mantis after delivering the first release for the Delsin series back in 2020. The scope across these eight new tracks is steeped in Baker's trademark restraint and subtlety, but equally he explores a broad scope of energies and tempos. From ambient, spacious downtempo and slow-motion, heavily dubbed drum mantras through to crisp, techy drum funk and dancehall-coded swagger, the range within the distinctive Forest Drive West sound is more versatile than ever. It's a range cemented further by the guest appearances on the album, as Patrick Russell comes on board for snarling, D&B-coded workout 'Uromastyx' and DB1 lends his chops to mesmerising closing breakbeat trip 'Planes'. Exquisite sound design with a mysterious streak binds these various approaches together. With club impact matched by spatial immensity, Mantis 1920 furthers the surefooted, intentional sound Baker has been shaping out as Forest Drive West for the past decade.

Loud Ambient 2 picks up directly from where Loud Ambient left off. After picking the drum machines back up, we returned to the colourfield ideas that shaped the first record. Rothko remained a key reference, along- side a strong recommendation to spend time with the work of Josef Albers. We did exactly that, and it paid off.

Alongside the music, we created 50 new pieces of artwork for Loud Ambient 2. These became tools rather than decorations. Working this way felt open and rewarding, and brought a real sense of play back into the process. We already understood what a Loud Ambient track could be, so slipping back into that headspace felt natural. The tracks came together quickly, full of energy, movement and that familiar noodle quality.

The creative side landed easily this time. There is some- thing about working with colourfields that frees you up and pushes you further into abstraction. It removes hesitation and keeps the focus on instinct and response.

With the drum machines and synths loaded, we kept our heads down and made the kind of music we want to hear on a dance floor. Loud Ambient 2 is the result.

WRWTFWW Records is pleased to announce its fifth collaboration with NY-LA ambient / jazz / downtempo musician Danny Scott Lane with the first ever vinyl release of his 2022 full-length album Holy Goodnight, available on limited edition LP (500 copies worldwide) housed in a heavyweight sleeve.
After Home Decor, Shower, Caput, and Songs For Sex, here’s another Danny Scott Lane classic. On Holy Goodnight, he handles synths, keyboards, bass, guitar, percussion, and field recordings for a smooth nightride through city pop, contemplative jazz, vaporwave, slow funk, cozy ambient, library music vibes, and relaxed moods.
Holy Goodnight feels like cruising through a half-asleep city with the windows down and the radio low—lush harmonies and soft grooves guiding the way. It’s warm and hazy music for late hours and early mornings, introspective, comforting, cinematic, intimate…
Following the release of chillout staples on WRWTFWW, Danny Scott Lane further cements his unmistakable sonic universe. Complete the collection and sink deeper into the night.
Points of interest
For fans of ambient jazz, city pop, downtempo, smooth funk, vaporwave, library music, night drives, neon lights, quiet introspection, cozy late hours, and peaceful goodnights.
Super limited edition vinyl (500 copies worldwide) of Danny Scott Lane’s Holy Goodnight, available on vinyl for the first time ever.

The fifth release on SAMMLER is shaped by an intense year and a period of transformation. Created as a way of processing lived experiences, the EP pushes the sonic boundaries of the project further while staying rooted in its hypnotic foundation.

On the A-side, ""Obion"" is stripped down and direct. A weighty beat meets a sharp, distinctive lead, building tension through reduction. ""Seno"" unfolds through a constant interplay of elements. Shimmering percussion and spacious textures create a glistening, almost cosmic atmosphere.

The B-side dives deeper into mood and movement. ""Riba"" revolves around a looping chord sequence that evokes an underwater sensation while maintaining steady drive. ""Dana"" closes the record with depth and presence, combining atmospheric pads with a stomping beat designed for full dancefloor impact.
SAMMLER 05 captures a refined yet uncompromising sound - immersive, focused and forward-moving.

Strictly limited to 150 copies. DJ use only.

By popular demand, almost two years after its original release, we're finally pressing one of MM Discos' most iconic records to vinyl. A record that, in many ways, captures the label's vibe, spirituality, and sonic identity.
Daichi landed in 2024 with standout versatility, effortlessly pulling almost any genre into a balearic universe, bending it to his own language.
From the proto-tropical trance of "See of Cosmic" to the loose, hard-to-pin-down house of "Dampness," somewhere between Madchester moods and an Arthur Russell-esque swing. Late-night energy runs through "You Got Me" and "Aja Aja" - the former riding a garage swing, the latter drifting further into that signature cosmic space. To close it out and ease the tempo down, Daichi moves into more disco-leaning territory with a pair of understated but heavyweight edits.

French label Latency presents ‘Estradas (Versions)’ - a dynamic reimagining of the acclaimed collaboration between drummer-composer Valentina Magaletti and Afro-Portuguese producer Nídia. Following Estradas’ recognition as one of 2024’s Best Albums by Pitchfork, The Wire, Resident Advisor, Artforum, Bandcamp, and more, ‘Estradas (Versions)’ invites a diverse lineup of producers and DJs to deconstruct and reimagine the raw percussive language initially crafted by Magaletti and Nídia. Where the original Estradas channeled their distinct rhythmic sensibili- ties into a bold sonic statement, this collection pushes those ideas further - opening the material to radical transformation across tempo, genre, and mood.

One of the leading baile funk innovators from Belo Horizonte, Dj Anderson do Paraíso opens the release by transforming “Andiamo” into a slow-burning, hallucinatory drift. Mexico-based Rosa Pistola and Freebot follow with “Rapido,” infusing it with syncopated, raw heat drawn from the pulse of underground Latin dancefloors. Lebanese-Australian producer Dj Plead pares “Sicilia” down to its core, distilling its essence into stripped-back, polyrhythmic ten- sion. On “Mata,” Brazilian DJ and producer BADSISTA delivers a fierce, bass-heavy version driven by slicing synths and unrelenting club pressure. Multidisciplinary artist FAUZIA sharpens the rhythmic intricacy of “Nasty” with her signature blend of speed and emotion.

London-born DJ, producer, and label founder Sherelle - known for her high-octane 160bpm mix of footwork and jungle - injects “Estradas” with blistering breakbeat energy, reframing its urgency through a razor-sharp UK lens. Chinese musician and sound artist Yu Su offers a fluid, atmospheric reinterpretation of the same track, softening its edges while preserving its momentum. Scottish composer and producer Fergus Jones pulls “No Promises” into hypnotic new rhythmic terrain. Dominican producer and multidisciplinary artist Kelman Duran stretches “Ta A Bater Ya” into a shadowy, reverberant space, while Lebanese composer and multi-instrumentalist Charif Megarbane and its Cosmic Analog Ensemble reimagines it with layered, cinematic textures echoing vintage library music and psych-jazz soundtracks.

These artists treat Estradas as raw material - reframing its structures and reactivating its rhythmic possibilities through entirely new prisms. What emerges is not a conventional remix album, but a vibrant constellation of versions : a response to Estradas’ percussive provoca- tions, and an extension of its spirit of exploration - all while keeping its pulse alive.

As with the band’s 2023 release of the same name, Refreshing Part 2 is a decisive and fierce collection of percussive techno that nonetheless travels its path with a heightened level of funkiness.
The Italian duo describe the concept behind this collection as being “not about resetting, but about balancing. Refreshing means reconnecting with the present and with the future…focusing on one’s own way in order to prevent the flow from becoming automatic, uncontrolled, and
without orientation. It is more a direction than a path.”
The four tracks on the 12” are hypnotic dives into a full spectrum of club music: the rhythms and sound design guiding the subconscious into visions of past, present and future intermingled, a reminder that all moments co-exist simultaneously.
Side A passes from the stripped-down intensity of The Way through to Elisir (Elixir), which manages to pull off a trick of feeling light and floaty while maintaining the power of its predecessor. The flip side opens with the forceful drive of Activate before making way to the
percussive elasticity of Family Tree, a track which closes out the EP by recalling, in both name and sound, how that which came before deeply affects the now, though often in ways only subliminally perceived.
Digital-only track Fixed in Flux continues this concept, and the overall themes of Refreshing Part 2, with further evocations of intent and movement; remaining present in change, without resisting it, yet without dissolving into it.

Always lurking amidst the underground Porto music scene is Spitbender, the most stable moniker of the ever-morphing Francisco Antão. Spin gathers a collection of tracks that demonstrate his experimentalism & coy sonic precision. Spitbender takes cues from Jungle & Hip Hop producers to create his own unique blend of Downtempo. What becomes clear throughout the album is the attention to detail: it is infused as much by Industrial's red-line spectra as it is by the dubplate logic of the Darkside Continuum, yet it does so at its own tripped out speed.

Spin begins with the laid-back but constantly shifting 'Global Overgroove'. Its breakbeat science moves in & out of DSP glitch-work & dub reflections. When its slinky bassline melody arrives, a certain dread sets in.

'Weyward Fold' drops into a driving, hard-edged chug, threaded with snippets of Malcolm X's disobedient pedagogy. The momentum carries into 'Headnod Doctor', where the bass distortion thickens & the cymbal circuit is overloaded, landing somewhere between Hip‑Hop grit & metal weight.

Side A ends with the downtempo roller 'Dogs and Moles (Skylurk Mix)'. The familiar break drifts into new territory, pulled along & wrapped in a slap-back echo. A quirky melody cuts through the haze, giving the track a fresh tilt. The mulch of the track forms a steady, unhurried pulse.

Spitbender's spacious atmospherics & groove-focused approach comes further into focus on 'Nothing Here But the Recordings'. Creating his own chapter in the book of Trip Hop, his minimalist touch is laid out in full.

'Force the Hand Ov Chance' pulls Boom Bap gently into dub mechanics, letting space do the heavy lifting. Its simplicity hides a deep pocket.

Returning to broken-up distortion, 'Mirrors of Flesh (Dub Mix)' finds Spitbender using the mixer as an instrument to push & pull the heavy drums of Benjamin Brejon of Méchanosphere alongside the voice of Rui intoning the title phrase.

Sitting between the album's two poles, 'Out Take Dub' fuses the clipped‑obsession timbres of Spin's heavier moments with its blissed out flow. Feedback & distortion are welcomed & drawn long.

In the end, Spin hits like a fully formed statement—lean, focused, & unmistakably Spitbender. Every track pushes its own angle, but together they land with a clarity that feels earned. It's a sharp marker in his trajectory, & it leaves a charge in the air.

DiscoGram's self-titled label is quickly becoming our disco dealer of choice. This third massive gets us further hooked on the groovy goods. After a Brazilian flex last time out, there is more of an Afro overtone to this 12": 'Africa Tribal' is a percussive sun-soaked sound with expressive horns and equally expressive vocals over a ton of percussion, hand claps and wiggly grooves. 'Chillin' Out' is more US-flavoured with a low-slung and breezy vibe and sunny vocals. 'Coconut' ups the pace and injects florid feels with Philly strings and stomping drums. 'Hi Tension' then keeps its foot down with a heavy but funky disco sound and irresistible double-claps.

Melody As Truth and Future Days Radio present ‘At the Emerald Pool’, an album by Tomo Katsurada and Jonny Nash.

Netherlands-based artists Tomo Katsurada (Ex-Kikagaku Moyo / Future Days Radio) and Jonny Nash (Melody As Truth) combine forces for an exploration into the sonic potential of the guitar duo, rooted in their experiences performing together over the last 12 months.

Friends and admirers of each other’s work for a decade, their musical collaboration began in 2024 with Katsurada asking Nash to contribute guitar to his debut EP ‘Dream Of The Egg’. Sensing the need to explore this further, they spent the following year performing together in different configurations, with Nash joining Katsurada’s trio and Katsurada in turn playing with Nash as a duo, across a wide spectrum of spaces, from churches and temples to concert halls, theatres and outdoor festivals. With new ideas developing organically out of these performances, recording new material became the next logical step. A short period of three days was set aside with a clear goal: to capture the essence of their fluid, intertwining melodies and guitar playing in a way that felt as direct and unfiltered as possible. Working from a handful of pre-existing sketches, they left ample room for experimentation to unfold within the process.


The results are presented on ‘At The Emerald Pool’, a collection of ten pieces that offer the listener a full immersion into the pair’s sound. With guitar as the primary instrument for both artists, it is no surprise that the core of the album lies here, specifically in the fluid interplay between the two players. Layers of gentle, delay-soaked fingerpicking often make it almost impossible to distinguish where one player ends and the other begins. As soloists, both Katsurada and Nash have a gift for crafting melodic lines that feel open and ascending, expressive and hopeful without becoming saccharine. Longer, more abstract pieces are counterbalanced by a series of shorter songs, with five vocal tracks appearing across the album. The decision to share vocal duties lends the record a unique quality and a strong sense of variation, bringing a wide expressive range out of a deliberately focused musical framework.


‘At The Emerald Pool’ represents the first chapter in an ongoing musical dialogue, an attempt to capture a moment of connection, openness and discovery, laying the foundation for what continues to unfold.

DJ support – Jamie Jones, Seth Troxler Damian Lazarus, Marco Corola, Joseph Capriati, The Martinez Brothers and Rey Colino

S.A.M. returns to Up The Stuss this summer with the third release in the UTSOFF series, delivering a potent double-header that’s been rattling dancefl oors for months. Titled ‘Hit You With My Phone’, the release arrives on 4th July and features two dynamic cuts that further cement the Danish talent’s place in the label’s core family.

A mainstay in Chris Stussy’s recent sets and one of the most talked-about IDs in recent months, title track ‘Hit You With My Phone’ is pure dancefloor dynamite — a helter-skelter ride through organised chaos, laced with warped vocals, frenetic percussion and a relentless groove that grabs you and doesn’t let go. It’s bold, it’s unpredictable, and it’s quickly become one of the most commanding tracks in the Dutch label boss’s arsenal.

On the flip, ‘Got Me Down’ offers a skippy contrast — a low-slung groover that channels tension and release with tightly wound drums and rolling bass, keeping things locked for deeper moments on the floor.

Marking S.A.M.’s third outing on Up The Stuss following their collaborative ‘Get Together’ project with Stussy and the solo ‘Check It Out’ EP, ‘Hit You With My Phone’ sees them explore new ground while staying true to the raw, club-focused ethos of the label. As the UTSOFF series continues to shine a light on uncompromising, forward-facing club music, this latest instalment delivers two cuts built for impact and ready to cause damage.

FLO are leading the modern revival of the British girl group — and doing so at a scale not seen in over two decades. With over half a billion global streams, the trio have delivered the highest-selling tour by a British girl group in more than 20 years, becoming the first since the Spice Girls to reach that milestone. They are also the first British girl group to receive a Grammy nomination in two decades, alongside three MOBO nominations in 2026, cementing their status as both a commercial and cultural force. Rather than simply revisiting the past, FLO are reshaping the possibilities for what a contemporary girl group can be.

Comprised of Renée Downer, Stella Quaresma and Jorja Douglas, FLO’s story is one of intention, craft and deep-rooted connection. The trio had long been aware of one another through theatre school circles, social media and shared creative worlds before coming together as a group in 2019. That early familiarity quickly grew into a sisterhood, shaped behind the scenes through years of studio work, vocal development and trust. Raised by strong single mothers and immersed in performance from a young age, each member brings resilience, emotional intelligence and discipline into the group — qualities that underpin both their sound and their dynamic.

Individually, FLO’s balance comes from contrast. Renée is the group’s compass: composed, business-minded and creatively precise, grounding the trio with clarity and vision. Stella is the spark and the glue — sociable, emotionally intuitive and collaborative — shaped by a childhood between England and Mozambique where music was communal, expressive and felt. Jorja is the fire: outspoken, instinctive and vocally commanding, with a natural ear for harmony and arrangement. Their roles shift and evolve, but together they form a unit built on mutual respect, honesty and shared authorship.

That chemistry is central to FLO’s music. Drawing from classic R&B and soul while pushing it forward through modern production, their sound centres vocal harmony, emotional nuance and storytelling that reflects the realities of young womanhood. FLO reject the idea that strength requires emotional distance; instead, they explore power through vulnerability, confidence and control. From independence and self-worth to intimacy and desire, their writing is direct and unapologetically theirs. As Jorja puts it, FLO are “the brains, the heart and the soul” behind everything they do.

The success of their debut album marked a defining moment — not only for FLO, but for British pop more broadly. It confirmed the appetite for harmony-led, female-fronted groups operating with creative agency, and propelled FLO onto global stages, from sold-out headline tours to major festivals and international television. Along the way they have earned respect from R&B legends and peers alike, performing during Grammy Week for icons including Mariah Carey, Brandy and Chaka Khan, and showcasing their vocal chemistry on NPR’s Tiny Desk — a moment that further underlined the trio’s technical precision and emotional depth.

With their next chapter, Therapy At The Club, FLO expand this emotional honesty into a fully realised creative universe. The concept reimagines the club not just as a place of nightlife, but as a site of release, confession and self-possession — encompassing the moments before, during and after the night out. From mirror affirmations and pre-game chaos, to late-night Uber conversations, dance-floor catharsis and the clarity of the morning after, Therapy At The Club captures how women process desire, heartbreak, confidence and healing in real time, together. It is both fantasy and reality: cinematic, fashion-led and emotionally raw, grounded in sisterhood as a form of survival.

Sonically, the new music leans into dark, euphoric R&B and pop with sharper edges, built on vocal mastery and diaristic storytelling. Lead single “Leak It” sets the tone for the era — playful, charged and unapologetically self-aware — exploring what happens when desire spills over, secrets surface and control is reclaimed. Across the new songs, FLO move fluidly between intimacy and euphoria, turning the club into a space where vulnerability is power and feeling everything is the point.

As a trio built on discipline, joy and deep creative trust, FLO represent a new model for the British girl group: one rooted in authorship, harmony and cultural impact. Balancing softness with strength and ambition with authenticity, they are shaping the future of R&B and pop on their own terms. FLO are not looking backwards — they are setting the standard for what comes next.

2026 Repress

Next year the iconic anthem Cafe Del Mar will celebrate its 30th anniversary, a landmark that will be celebrated with a series of brand new remixes alongside the finest existing remixes in specially remastered versions.
Launching the series of vinyl releases in September is a remastered vinyl-only release of the original mix, as well as the best-known version of this classic track, the iconic Three ‘N One Remix.
Nearly 30 years ago, Paul M aka DJ Kid Paul recording as Energy 52 unleashed a record onto an unsuspecting public that would go on to define club culture for an entire generation of dance music enthusiasts. Named as an homage to the legendary Ibiza sunset spot, Café Del Mar broke down boundaries between the underground and
the mainstream, charting in the UK singles charts on three separate occasions and named as the “best tune ever” by Mixmag at the start of the new millennium. In terms of cultural and emotional impact in dance music, it’s hard to find a record that comes close.
Café Del Mar has come to represent the most euphoric and hedonistic pleasures of dancefloors - in Ibiza and all around the world - and has been remixed by some of the biggest names in the industry. Now, 30 years after its original release, Superstition Records will be putting out a new series of releases, with brand new remixes as well as remastered versions of some of the many remixes from across the last three decades. The vinyl-only remastered version of the original and Three ‘N One mixes will launch the series, with further details about the rest of the series announced in the coming weeks.

In 2021 Paul Van Dyk’s Café Del Mar remixes launched a series of vinyl and digital re-issues on the Superstition Records imprint after an almost 20 years hiatus. From 1993 until 2003 Superstition Records was a groundbreaking Techno, Tech-House and Trance Label and released some of the biggest and most revered records of the early German electronic scene.

Jacksonville returns with Heavy & Gold, a powerful five-track EP rooted in the raw energy of underground house and analog machine funk. Produced by Chris Lyth, the record blends Chicago-influenced drum programming, hypnotic basslines and deep melodic textures into a set of highly functional DJ cuts built for the dancefloor. The EP moves between muscular jack tracks and deeper hypnotic moments, balancing driving groove architecture with subtle emotional tension. Heavy & Gold opens with the title track, a dense and rolling house cut driven by heavy drums and warm synth layers, before Just Another High delivers a tighter, more stripped-down groove with classic underground swing. Rapido pushes the energy further with a direct, rhythmic workout built for peak-time transitions. On the flip side, Parallel Love expands into a deeper and more atmospheric territory with evolving textures and hypnotic momentum, while closing track Miz & Ida delivers a long, hypnotic groove combining analog warmth and late-night dancefloor pressure. True to the Skylax philosophy, this release focuses on timeless groove design rather than trends, offering DJs and collectors a record built to last in the bag for years. Written and produced by Chris Lyth with executive production by Hardrock Striker and artwork by H5 (Simon Renaud), Heavy & Gold continues the Skylax tradition of uncompromising underground house music.

At the start of this summer, following a three-year hiatus for Daphni (punctuated only by his first ever collaborative Daphni track ‘Unidos’ alongside Sofia Kourtesis), he dropped ‘Sad Piano House’. The track represented something of a continuation in the Daphni catalogue, its roots growing from Cherry’s ‘Cloudy’ and its subsequent Kelbin remix, something in that song’s makeup having a profound effect when played on dancefloors by Snaith and countless others. ‘Sad Piano House’ deployed more intangibly irresistible bendy piano to equally satisfying effect and continues to achieve similarly rhapsodic dancefloor saturation.
Though a sizeable gap for Daphni releases, between Cherry and Butterfly however of course sits Honey, the latest Caribou album and one that saw the more instantaneous and dancefloor leaning traits of Daphni peaking through the cracks more than ever before. This blurring of the lines leads to an intriguing collaboration in Butterfly’s lead single ‘Waiting So Long (feat. Caribou)’. An unlikely duo - in that both artists are the same man, Dan Snaith - ‘Waiting So Long’ is not so much an identity crisis, ego trip, or the result of a chemical spill in the Snaith laboratory. It’s simply a track that Snaith felt for the first time belongs to both aliases, and might appeal to fans of both. He has never sung on a Daphni track before, and did not set out with the intention to do so this time, and yet this strange billing was born.

Daphni music has always been Snaith’s way of hitting directly to the core of the dancefloors he spends so much of his time playing to, and those dancefloors have been steadily expanding as his name grows, with the music following suit. This album however also draws from further back with a definite kinship to the very first Daphni album, the invigorating bag of ideas that was Jiaolong.
Butterfly is a showcase of the wonderful variety and surprising twists and turns that made that album such an exciting new prospect and that still to this day make Snaith such an intriguing DJ. There are more heavy hitters here, tracks that fill those dancefloors better than anyone, like ‘Clap Your Hands’ which picks up the energy of ‘Sad Piano House’ and flips it, exposing the gritty and intoxicating underbelly of Snaith’s hitmaking side, while retaining the playful urgency that runs through all of his work of late. Meanwhile ‘Hang’’s comic-strip horns are unpinned by gleeful force, unrelenting and thrillingly unshakeable. Elsewhere though comes a clutch of other tunes that might creep out somewhere more off the beaten path, a path Snaith has never stopped seeking in amongst his larger billings. ‘Lucky’ is squirmy and elusively intoxicating, ‘Invention’ skitters down meandering, inviting corridors, ‘Talk To Me’ grumbles and broods in the murk, and ‘Miles Smiles’ could roll on endlessly, so confident in its groove. There are no obvious peaks in these tracks or unifying moments, in fact many of them really have no business being on the dancefloor at all, and yet in the right setting, they could be the most fun to be had all night.

One such club is a good microcosm for the ethos of Butterfly as a whole. “Around the time I was finishing up this album I played a long set in a club called Open Ground in Wuppertal, Germany.” Snaith recalls, “It’s kind of, in one sense, the platonic ideal of the kind of club I’d want to play in. Every single decision has been taken, at great expense, with the aim of making the perfect sounding medium sized club room. But on top of it being the perfect acoustic environment it also is run by an amazing collection of people in a way that gives it a sense of community that dance music at its best provides. It is an absolute pleasure to play in that room to a crowd of people who come from all over. Playing in there you feel like you can play anything, and I played works in progress of pretty much every track on this album in my set there. Don’t get me wrong, I love playing a short set at a festival or in a more raw warehouse kind of club where you bang it out and only really functional music works but on record I guess the point of these Daphni records is to keep in mind a more expansive idea of dance music where the parameters are broad and the church is broad. I think that actually, putting really functional stuff next to weirder tracks (both on an album and in a dj set) might be the thing that’s still most interesting to me.”
This is the feeling that’s most palpable on Butterfly, and in every single time you see Snaith DJ. Right from the inception of the Daphni alias - and even before that – the thrill of trying stuff out, pushing at the boundaries has always been there and on Butterfly is present in all its twists and turns. It leaps all over the place and yet it hangs together, never feeling like a grab bag of dancefloor utilities but rather a distillation of all the strings to Snaith’s bow, exhilaratingly human and unified by one singular concept – simple and joyful exploration.

Accepting the darkness can be a liberating experience. Realising, and struggling with just who we are and what world we live in requires it. By further complicating the fractured sense of beauty found on his droning 2022 release, ‘I dreamt we found a way’, Bristol-based composer, Rob Winstone creates a language that encapsulates the lifelong reach for our own personal heavens, along with the darkness and fear on which those foundations are built.

Winstone’s instrumental palette continues to reach out far from behind his keyboards, however the sound of ‘sifting through heaven’ is stripped back and pared down, putting melody front and centre. 'postcards and loose tea', a love song written for Winstone’s partner during a period coming to terms with health difficulties had previously self-released with heavy spectral and granular manipulation from the artist. Here Winstone re-presents the original: “the stripped back recording I made in my old damp and cold studio that was in a building that has since been demolished”. It reflects the composer’s own journey, doing away with veils and histrionics, and embracing emotional bliss wherever it can be found, warts and all. Even the rumbling dark ambience of ’hospital corridor’ - where distant chimings, groans, and droplets synthesized from field recordings made nervously in a hospital waiting for test results coalesce - harbours a sacred-seeming beauty and aseptic warmth within its very bleak sense of dread.

There’s no better way to describe Winstone’s method than ‘sifting through heaven’. The hymnal organ chords, sketched out acoustic guitar phrases, scattering drum thuds, and meditative field recordings may flit between tenebrous to incandescent, but his focus is always on the embrace of love; “a view of life that embraces positive growth, yet doesn't deny immense suffering,” as he puts it. The album is bookended by two of Winstone’s most outright peaceful moments, summarising his core message: 'in spite of it all...' '...love finds a way'.