- At first Rhythm Section's label arm appeared strictly local in scope: Al Dobson Jr's Rye Lane Volume One was named for the Peckham road on which he lived, and on which the Rhythm Section parties take place. Then again, there's that word "international" in the label's name, a promise on which founder Bradley Zero has made good with his second original signing. For the Polite Strangers EP, Zero looks to the opposite side of the globe, and to Melbourne newcomer Prequel. As it turns out, the distance matters hardly at all: replete with twinkly jazz samples and delicate percussion, these four deep house productions doubtless sound right at home on the Canavan's dance floor.
That said, they aren't quite peak-time material—their heavy-lidded grooves seem better suited to the closing moments of a party, when only the most loved-up remain standing (and only just). "Searching" bumps languidly along, with hiccupy wisps of talkbox vocal drifting woozily out of time. So all encompassing is the sense of laziness that it's almost not a disappointment when we lose our way in the latter half. "Fidelio," with its pillow-soft Rhodes samples, is more focussed and all the better for it. "Michelle" is the standout, and not only for its abnormally quick pace: trading in dreamy uplift rather than earthbound stumble, it's the EP's most transcendental cut. By comparison, "The Test Dream," a beatdown trudge sporting patches of dissonance, feels just the wrong side of sluggish.
TracklistA1 Searching
A2 Fidelio
B1 Michelle
B2 The Test Dream