- Killer production and alluring vocals make for Baltra's best record yet.
- If you type Baltra into YouTube, you'll find a handful of low-key house tracks, some of which have almost half a million views. Dusty grooves with catchy R&B samples make for simple earworms, akin to the early work of artists like Mall Grab or DJ Boring—mercurial stars of an Internet-born scene who got a new generation of hyper-enthusiastic young heads into electronic music, before moving onto more ambitious artistic endeavours. After an adventurous debut album in 2019, Baltra re-emerges on Local Action, a London label with a family-style ethos, counting some of the most talented young producers among its ranks (India Jordan, Anz, Finn, E.M.M.A etc.). Now Baltra sits comfortably on its roster, with colourful, personality-driven house that fits Local Action to a tee.
Ambition feels like a leap forward for Baltra. You can hear it in the production—while he's always been good at lush arrangements, the production values here are spectacular. The spacious low-end and atmospheric pads on "Make It B.I.G." feel both huge and breezy. It's energizing, like the feeling of stepping onto a cool, empty dance floor at the beginning of the night. The low-slung bassline and polyrhythmic percussion on "Work (It) Out" are perfectly engineered for big soundsystems, a less is more approach that highlights the quality of each individual sound. And the production on the bouncy, leftfield "Like A Butterfly" reaches a level of cosmic you could compare to Flying Lotus.
As usual, Baltra's voice is all over Ambition. There's an obvious influence from Galcher Lustwerk when he raps on "Will You Be" and "Baby," but the way he employs such simple, purposeful hooks with just a few words mirrors his production style: powerful, elegant and effective. The prose on "Will You Be?"—"Will you be my sunshine / Will you be my valentine / Will you party all the time / Will you be online"—flows like wry stream of consciousness. But it's the hook on "Baby" where Baltra's seductive baritone perfectly sums up the EP, which mixes house music and hip-hop elements into an undeniably appealing package: "I'm just trying to catch a vibe, baby."
Tracklist01. Make It B.I.G.
02. Work (It) Out
03. Baby
04. Like A Butterfly
05. Will You Be?
06. Baby (Extended Mix)
07. Work (It) Out (Extended Mix)