- Sally C polishes her trademark "chunkers" into a more understated style.
- On last year's Big Saldo's Chunker EP 002, Sally Caithness's so-called "chunkers" reached their final form: festival-ready breaks, silly vocal samples and rolling basslines designed to get even the stiffest wallflower "woohooing" like P. Diddy in Circoloco. The tracks were huge, but subtle and detailed enough to stand out from most Top 10 chart fodder. Big Saldo's Chunker EP 003 is just as audacious, but Caithness adds some after hours naughtiness and 140 BPM-plus intensity to her usual hip-house euphoria.
The B-side is where Caithness really spreads her wings. "Control" might be my favourite tune in her entire catalogue. It's as cerebral as she's ever sounded, with short-circuiting synth arpeggios and a vocal intoning you to make bad decisions. The B2, "Get Up," at 144 BPM, is fast without sounding like it's hopping on the trance bandwagon. Instead, she pitches up a fairly minimal hip-house tune. It isn't much more than a bassline, some drums, and vocal snippets, a restrained and sleek mid-set weapon as classy as it is zippy.
The other two cuts are closer to Caithness's tried-and-true banger formula. Of the two, "All Love" is the standout. At 132 BPM it starts out as understated tech house with a bassline that would send a fabric crowd into spasms. But, true to form, she takes out the bass and brings in a piano line that sounds beamed in from a Strictly Rhythm record circa '91 to add a bit of big room drama. What Big Saldo's Chunker EP 003 underlines is Caithness's deep love and intimacy with house music’s past and present. The tracks—the chunkers—are equal parts nostalgic and futuristic. No one makes 'em like Big Saldo.
Tracklist01. All Love
02. Hit It
03. Control
04. Get Up