- Deep and luxurious house backed by two Glenn Underground remixes.
- If you've just stumbled across Lea Lisa's Discogs or Resident Advisor page, it might seem like the DJ and producer is a newcomer with a deep, American-inspired take on house (think Rhodes keys and live drums). But Lisa has been a staple of the French scene since the mid-'90s, a key DJ playing across the country (and world) with everyone from Ellen Alien to Kerri Chandler. After taking a break in the early '00s, the rip current of clubland has pulled her back, now with a renewed focus on production. She's since been fine-tuning her chops on labels like Wolf Music and Chez Damier's Inner Balance, and now lands on the Phonica sub-label Karakul with a piece of silken, late-night smoothness.
"Keys Of Life" starts low and slow. The intro is functional yet classy, with closed hats and a slight creep to the chords that would make it easy to mix into. Then the song builds into something approaching the flamboyant: if the piano solo doesn't have you running for the rooftops to celebrate life, the strings at the end will. These overtures might sound a tad dramatic, but they harken back to house music at its most glamorous.
Glenn Underground's remixes move in a slightly different direction, exploring house in more cosmic forms. On "Keys Of Life (GU's Esoteric Chicago Mix)," he keeps the chords but adds a proper squelch to the bass and beams in an alien vocal. On the dub mix, Lisa's original is even harder to find as Glenn Underground stretches its component parts to breaking point—the whole track sounds like it's trying to break its way out of a layer of clear film. Whether your preference is for the red-velvet luxury of the original or the galactic trippiness of the flip, these are pure, effective house tracks made by two artists deeply versed with the music's past, present and future.
Tracklist01. Keys Of Life
02. Keys Of Life (GU's Esoteric Chicago Mix)
03. Keys Of Life (GU's Esoteric Chicago Dub)