- When the mysterious Ten Walls released his/her/their first EP, Gotham, on Innervisions in May, it was instantly clear that the glorious, horn-led deep house of the title track would be the label's annual Ibiza mega-hit. A summer of speculation later and a definitive answer to the question of Ten Walls' identity remains unfound, though the name of a certain Lithuanian house stalwart does crop up more than most. Whoever is behind this incredibly assured music has created a worthy follow-up in Requiem, for Italian label Life And Death. "Requiem"'s lead is a big, deliberate bass pattern that ascends and descends in a pool of glistening pads, as percussion and claps flicker in the background. The track nails a similar trick to "Gotham": it's utterly luxuriant deep house that feels instantly familiar even as its freshness confounds.
Where Gotham was all about the title track, Requiem's second cut is every bit as strong as the first. "Mongol" starts life as a deep, cosmic number before the vista is punctuated by an arresting Middle-Eastern-style horn riff that will still be making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up on the 50th listen. Elastic percussion and spectral harmonies bring the track home, completing a whole that is as floor-ready as it is mesmeric. Closer "Ankaris" is a slinking night-drive of low-pitched pads and flitting synth flourishes. It doesn't make quite the impact of the first two cuts, but then very few tracks have this year.
TracklistA Requiem
B1 Mongol
B2 Ankaris