Marc Poppcke is back on his own excellent Crossfrontier Audio imprint with a new four-track EP showcasing both his tougher, techier side, and a lighter, summery touch.

The title track is a bassy, squelchy workout with fantastic urgency and drive. The middle section lets things simmer a little while adding a chiming, drifting melody into proceedings, before the track picks back up for the finale.

‘Out of Order’ in fact works just fine, bringing a bass-heavy tech-house flow to the table. Melodies swirl gently in the background, while  a detuned buzz-saw synth rises and falls as the track progresses through a wicked series of peaks and troughs. Serious stuff.

The second half of the EP is lighter in tone, with ‘Subconscious Mind’ featuring scratchy percussion and a laid back bass lick that set the scene for sprinklings of chimes and heavier bass wobbles. This was definitely the track on the release that appealed least to me, though, since I could have done with it switching things up a bit more across its running time.

Finally, ‘Summer Breeze’ is a fittingly titled gem tucked away at the end of the EP. Warm and light, with a lovely bassline and a swirling dreamy quality, this track nicely flouts the boundary between deep and progressive house, and it delivers an emotional hit halfway through with sweeping melodies taking the listener into a truly gorgeous breakdown, before setting up a colourful and emotional drop.

‘Summer Breeze’ is definitely my pick here, but both ‘Antonym’ and ‘Out of Order’ offer very fine cuts aimed more squarely at the floor. Overall, this release displays all the quality that we’ve come to expect from Marc Poppcke and Crossfrontier Audio. 8.5/10