It’s unclear if Shacklo‘s EP title here, “Ku“, is referring to the old Ibizan nightclub of the same name, and he’s definitely not old enough to have ever been there as it closed in 1995, but there is definitely a Balearic spirit running through this fine EP on Chiwax. Four tracks of sun-drenched deepness await as the needle hits the grooves, leaving you grinning from ear to ear as you lift the needle off.
The title track is pure early 90s joy – warm pads, bouncing deep bass, stabby chords, cheeky vocal clips; it’s all there, housed in an uplifting and very authentic old-sounding, wonderfully cheery, House jam. There are even occasional whistle FX for good measure, adding to a cut which really could have been released around 1991 on a label such as Flying out of Italy.Â
“How Deep” keeps the floaty sunshine vibes to the fore, but taking a much deeper – hence the title – approach. The bassline is more straightforward, the synths bubble along amongst the light percs on the drum track, a spacey, hollow, tinkly styled riff comes in and out of the track, lifting its warmth and just adding a little starry sheen to the overall flow. Again, this could have easily sat in the record boxes of the early Ibiza DJs and sounded totally at home.
As we flip the 12″ over, we’re greeted by “Summon”, which moves the sounds into a totally different direction. Landing with a sort-of New York house-influenced vibe, we’re into M1 bass territory, with a superb live keys giving the track a real brightness, while everything else remains in the lower frequency range. Excellent club tackle here and something which could just as easily be used as part of a warm-up or late-set track.Â
To close, we’re transported back to early 90s Italy with the sound influences. The soaring pads flow over a bouncing low bassline, cowbells do their delayed thing in the percussive set-up, with a “Let your body be free” vocal refrain completing the 90s spirit in this track. You could quite easily convince people this was an EP from 30+ years ago, such is its vibe and perhaps most importantly its uplifting charm. A great release for younger and older DJs alike.
Words by Al Bradley
Torture the Artist 