V/A

Club sounds in flux

Black Artist Database marks five years championing Black electronic music with ‘Synergy Vol. 3’, a compilation that continues to push the possibilities of contemporary club sounds. Isaac Carter’s ‘She Likes to Move’ opens the record with a dubby 2-step cut built around a looping bassline, while Parris strips things back on ‘Steam Room’, relying on a haunting topline and taut rhythm section to carry the track. Other highlights include Tsepo’s stomping ‘BAD Demo’ and NIK’s bolshy ‘Subtle Delights’ — which wouldn’t sound out of place on Moxie’s On Loop label. The comp moves fluidly between swinging four-four, lean techno and jungle-esque hybrids, as well as rhythms that defy easy categorisation, but if there’s anything that unites the release, it’s the overall mood — atmospheric, rhythm-forward, and often introspective as opposed to peak-time.

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Pretty Girl

Dreamlike club journey

Pretty Girl’s sets share the qualities of an impressionist painting. She strokes sounds with soft edges, blending bright-toned auras that evolve a dreamlike reality. It’s unclear whether the Melbourne-born, London-based artist is a Monet fan, but she’s well-aware her latest contribution to the fabric Presents mix series is a heightened sensory experience. “It’s kind of like a plate of food — you want lots of colour, and everything to go well together,” she says. Indeed, Fabric Presents Pretty Girl is a nourishing listen, woven by the producer, DJ and vocalist’s effortless musicality, and with melodies stripped straight from her subconscious.

From an intro of lush, slow-building synths unfolds a selection of left-of-center selects crafted by names like Clarian, Sleep D, RONA. and SWIM, making for an auditory trip that’s simultaneously deep and effervescent, as well as energizing and emotional. At its apex sits ‘Innadream’, the warm and lilting new single from Pretty Girl with an origin story that begins in deep sleep — what started as a bleary-eyed melody penned upon departure of a dream has become the cornerstone of this mix, Pretty Girl’s crystalline voice floating atop a minimal, chord-driven beat that eventually crescendos into a flurry of clubland bliss. Her other inclusion, ‘Hahaha’, is another high point, offering a glimpse into her creative sampling for joyous effect. Given the depth of her own productions, we’d welcome more Pretty Girl originals sprinkled throughout this hour and change.