- Merimell's 2015 record for Desolat redesigned ghetto house with android efficiency. The Workout EP, for the somewhat more niche Unknown To The Unknown label, is equally rigorous. The sweat and pheromones of the Chicago style have been carefully removed, leaving chrome-plated drum tracks that are striking precisely because of their sterility. On "Workout," the titular vocal sample sounds less like a fitness instructor than the automated voice on an expensive treadmill. Its deadpan tone bounces nicely off the kinetic toms. So focussed is Merimell that she doesn't bring in the melody until minute four. "Getting Hot"'s vocal sample once again apes its title, but it's easier to imagine the frigid percussion in the sort of enormous warehouse space that no quantity of dancing bodies can quite warm up.
A couple of remixes spice things up. UTTU regular Palace ticks some very satisfying boxes with his version of "Workout," which is equal parts boisterous bassline and Anthony Naples-like hazy house. The Soft Pink Truth steals the show, demonstrating that dire warnings can be fun on his "Climate Change Mix" of "Getting Hot." "The planet's getting hot!" Drew Daniel warns over a squall of jittery edits, before the whole thing hits a joyous climax.
TracklistA1 Workout
A2 Workout (Palace Remix)
B1 Getting Hot
B2 Getting Hot (The Soft Pink Truth's Climate Change Mix)