- The team of Georg Levin and Invervision’s Steffen ''Dixon'' Bershahnn are back as Wahoo after a two year hiatus, during which time Dixon’s status as a deep house DJ and successful label owner rose considerably. Their single ‘Make ‘Em Shake It’ became a big hit with the Defected house crowd in 2005, which gives you a bit of an idea as to who their sound appeals to.
‘I’m Your Lover’ is the lead single from their forthcoming LP ‘Don’t Take It Personal’ and features the Basement Jaxx’s Felix Buxton on lead vocals. This bouncy heavily ska influenced track is made for radio with Felix trading verse, chorus, verse duties with the extremely competent Miss Platnum. There’s nothing really groundbreaking going on here but Wahoo seem to have the pop formula down to a tee. Can’t really imagine hearing this played out in a club environment, but would be well suited to a warm summer barbeque.
The grammatically incorrect ‘Don’t Take It Personal’ is a '70s influenced R&B disco slow jam that rips a page out of vintage Marvin Gaye. Again, it’s another slickly produced, made for radio number with a verse, chorus, bridge structure, which sees some smooth vocals courtesy of Paul Rudolf layered over discofied guitar and horn. It’s easy on the ears, but nothing we haven’t heard done better before.
I love Dixon’s deep house sound, but here Wahoo stray just a bit too far into cheesy territory for my liking. Unless of course it is Wahoo’s intentions to be a commercial act catering to the average passive radio listener. In their defence, I have to say these tunes did somehow find a way to covertly penetrate my inner consciousness, and I found myself humming them for a short while after, although unfortunately I can’t see them living long in the memory.
TracklistA I'm Your Lover
B Don’t Take It Personal (Georg Levin Edit)