- Slamming house that moves between gabber and French touch.
- The word I used to describe CLUBKELLY's last EP was "excessive." "His drums [are] thunderous," I wrote. "And his sample-loops sliced and filtered to the edge of oblivion." As it turns out, the French producer had a bit more dancing room before toppling over that edge. This followup EP refines his rough and ready filter-house sound, while also intensifying it. A few things make this music sound more and more like a quirky offshoot of hardcore, rather than a reboot of French touch. One is the squat brutality of the kick drums. Another is the groove they outline, a pummelling four-on-the-floor that muscles out the last few wisps of house sensuality. Another is his way with breakdowns. Each is substantial—especially considering the brevity of the tracks—and follows an increasingly baroque sequence of filter sweeps, clap and snare barrages and shuddering reverb detonations. Gabber breakdowns work in much the same way.
This is not a criticism. Where a peer like Finn gives the boisterous new-school sample-house sound a broad appeal (his "Sometimes The Going Gets A Little Tough" was rereleased by Defected and played by Diplo and Martin Garrix), CLUBKELLY takes it to absurd and exciting extremes. He does anthemic hooks ("Need U"), ecstasy bliss-outs ("Hiway") and cheeky groovers ("Loving Me," whose cartoonishly pitched-up diva is crushed between a Scylla and Charybdis of redlining drums). Only "Never Been" offers some space to breathe. Even it still sounds like a steel anvil swinging into your eardrums.
Tracklist01. Hiway
02. Lovin Me
03. Runout
04. Need U
05. Never Been