- It actually feels rather wrong that Sheffield's 5ANDSEVEN launch their label with a free four-tracker—especially as the name behind it is local lad Oliver Ledger, AKA Squarehead. So often free means cheap and cheerful. Not so here. There are echoes of Mosca, George FitzGerald and Boddika sprinkled across these four tracks. They all show a canny way with a sample and an ability to fashion dance floor moments that are fresh rather than naïve—particularly noteworthy when you take into account the teenage Ledger's tender years.
Built around a hyped up Janet Jackson sample, "Girl" is futuristic jacking house, replete with spanking 808 claps and snappy acidic bass. While there's nothing new about the Loleatta Holloway vocal used on "Let Me Tell You" (you know, that Black Box one), it's used subtly, not revealing its true identity for a couple of minutes. More notable is the pumping, echoey synth bass and offbeat hi-hats that ride underneath it. "Shade" is perhaps the best of the lot, retro Chicago house synths plonking out a gritty melody in tandem with chattering, wonky percussion and just pipping the epic off-kilter Orbital-style synth jam of "Structured," with its jerky Shangaan Electro drums.
Tracklist01. Girl
02. Let Me Tell You
03. Shade
04. Structured