- Originally from Paris, Pierre LX has been a staple of East London bars and clubs for the past few years, most notably as the man behind the Millennium Disco monthly at Shoreditch's Bar Music Hall. But despite having previously shared a 12-inch with Heko on Initial and with tracks on samplers for Safari, "Sketch Drive" marks his first proper release. Those that heard his previous work shouldn't be surprised: It's yet another good dose of unhurried deep house from the Frenchman.
"Sketch Drive" is all sweaty, slow-mo disco house, using a languid wah-wah guitar and some pleasing stabs to set the mood. Its pace allows plenty of room for the groove of the guitars and the complementary bassline to do their work, while those stabs progress naturally, pushing the track along. "Gabita," on the other hand, is on a deep house tip. It still sounds organic, but eschews the guitars in favour of some classic house piano. It would be easy enough to render these tracks corny sounding, but Pierre's productions—although steeped in the house sound of the mid- to late-'90s—are vital and well-executed here.
Elsewhere, Jus-Ed unravels "Sketch Drive," taking it back to the raw husk of its original self, big chunky chords and incidental synths keeping the retro vibe burning long and strong. Many would bemoan a release like this that casts a pebble into the ocean of similar sounding house music. Luckily, it's just happens to be a particularly shiny pebble.
TracklistA1 Sketch Drive
A2 Gabita
B2 Sketch Drive (Jus-Ed Remix)