Marlow // This Is It [Room With A View]
I first stumbled upon Marlow back in 2006, a resident of internet mixtape community themixingbowl, and friend of Marlow, slapped up a compilation of his tracks. This happened right on the crest of Dubstep becoming incredibly fashionable, and a far cry from the EDM infection we see nowadays. An Electronic Explorations mix later, on the then fledgling podcast, and Marlow had established himself as someone who was bringing something fresh to the electronic world. So kKeeping abreast of the shifting dynamics of the Dubstep world, namely a wholescale migration towards retro bassy House and industrial clanking Techno, Marlow is now unleashing the 4/4s over this excellent EP on Room With A View.
Doing it raw is key to looking back and the first thing you hear, on the disco groove snippet Intro, is the electrical hum of loose wiring, setting expectations of what you are about to experience. So Keep On then sets us on the path proper, with classic keys, a proper US House “Keep on dancin’!” vocal, spoken word clips, party time cowbells… it feels like it is almost following a Moodymann ideological checklist of keeping it deep, yet the grainy compression applied to the keys, the twisted detuning of the vocals and the sheer quality of execution, means this isn’t a nod of the head homage.
Incrementing the tempo upwards slightly, This Is It is easily the shaker of pack. Stripped back to a funky and squelchy acidic bassline, a soulfully sung vocal is accented with brassy Lil Louis stabs, pianos and guitars. The use of more organic instruments carries on through into Need U, a disco flecked emphatic piece that centres around ecstacy inducing vocal please and euphoric piano. A track that swells with emotion, making those of us who are starting to mark the pass of decades rather than years well up a touch.
By the time you see out this excursion via the short string coda of Outro, you feel you understand the point to point journey that Marlow has taken you on, from groove based grit through to emotive musical strains, a unique quality of production that stands up equally well for an end to end listen, as it does to plucking out to deploy in a club.
Release Date: Out Now
Words: fourfourfun
