- Free flowing synths meet punchy, jacking drums on this wonderful EP of off-kilter house.
- Ever wonder what Ricardo Villalobos would have played at the Muzic Box? Or Farley "Jackmaster" Funk hosting a stage at Sunwaves? These are the sort of clubland fantasies that jump to mind listening to "Bonus Beat," the lead track from Italian newcomer Frhank's Spring EP. There's a jacking rawness in the percussion—which he doubles down on at the halfway mark with hints of acid—while the slippery synth lines dilate and contract like chemically altered pupils adjusting to daylight. This strange but undeniably catchy track sits somewhere between classic Chicago and minimal house, kicking off an EP that boasts some of the most unique club tracks I've heard all year.
If "Bonus Beat" floats in the jetstream between Bucharest and Chicago, the title track is a hybrid of Warp-style folktronica and [a:rpia:r] minimalism. The plucked guitar line has the beautiful daring of Ambivalence Avenue-era Bibio, while the compressed, skipping loop is all about creating a locked groove that could go on forever. The B-side hews closer to classic minimal. The two versions of "When Is Time To Go Home?" are built around stuttering drums and short-circuiting synth bleeps, but Frhanks adds in a fairly whimsical organ line that gives the whole thing a dash of medieval campiness.
Spring lands on Joe Delon's Welt Discos imprint, and caps off a best-in-show year for both Delon and the label. Delon has been a key player in the rarified European digger's circuit for some time—he's a resident at London's Spaced and a regular at The Ghost's Hoppetosse parties, for example. But his approach to dance music has always been more big tent populist and less Discogs blind-buy snob than some of his peers. You get a sense of this reading his newsletter where he turns out some of the most thoughtful dance music criticism out there, detailing everything from drinking too much to breakdowns of his DJ mixes to reviewing new singles. His label reflects this ethos, turning out everything from punchy tech house to a surprise summer anthem. Spring adds another twist to the Welt Discos sound, but it's of a kind with his generous approach to house music. It's an EP that will likely see more join the ranks of Delon stans as he continues to keep dance music weird and fun.
Tracklist01. Bonus Beat
02. Spring
03. When Is Time To Go Home?
04. When Is Time To Go Home? (Instrumental)