Selador welcomes back label regular Joal for his first full release for the label, supported with excellent remixes by Marc DePulse and Supernova.
Joal’s first original track ‘Uncover to Discover’ is cut from the same cloth as Justin Massei’s ‘Nothing Can Hide’ on Selador’s last outing, with tuned percussion and menacing bass growls setting the scene for eerie glassy melodies and urgent vocal samples. The track’s at its best, though, when that bass part is allowed to just tear through your head as the percussion strides ahead – dark and delicious stuff from Joal.
Marc DePulse provides a more stripped-down interpretation, running the vocal clips over a minimalist groove, while gradually allowing restrained acid lines to raise the pressure as the track heads towards the breakdown. The breakdown lets Joal’s unsettling hook come to the fore, with those acidic pulses are never far away, before the track is suddenly whittled down to its skeleton once more. Overall, I preferred Joal’s original, but the sequence leading up to the breakdown in the remix is really stunning here.
Supernova take on a different track, ‘Tomorrow’, which was Joal’s contribution to the second Selador Showcase compilation. The duo manage to keep things simple while achieving maximum effect, with rapid-fire hi-hats and a wicked bass-groove providing the core of the track. The main breakdown manages to squeeze every iota of atmosphere and tension out of a single held chord, while the original’s vocal samples and spiky bass stabs are deployed at just the right moments. Excellent work from Supernova – this is their first appearance on Selador, but I’ll be very surprised if it’s their last.
Finally, Joal returns with a second new track, ‘Exercise’, a proper acid-workout with twisted 303-lines meeting a muscular bassline, classic housey percussion, robotic commands, and shimmering pads and dancing melodies that lift the track exactly when it could use the boosts.
Quality gear for your ears from Selador as ever, with Supernova’s take on Joal’s sound providing the highlight for me. Have at it!
