It has been over 10 years since Losoul released his former ‘Care‘ LP on Playhouse. Despite the decade wait Peter Kremeier is a man who consistently refines his craft and that’s why ‘Island Time’ is not a come back but rather a celebration album that showcases his honed skills and dedication to the love of music.
Released via Hypercolour, a label that upholds the album with the recognition it deserves, ‘Island Time’ is emotive, irregular and at times deep and dirty. Above all else, it keeps true to Losoul’s roots, bringing proven house music for your downtime as well the dance. If you liked his debut release ‘Slowly Turning’ on Hypercolour, then you’re going to love this album.
It is filled with similar analogue bleeps and high cut synth hits lying on a foundation of quality house rhythms. This of course all stems from his Playhouse years, a label that has brought so many influential producers to the world and with a new distinctive sound of house music and micro-house.
After a long listen, ‘Boppin Lower’ definitely stands out. A progressive bassline gradually filters through the high cut bleeps and is genuinely awesome! It’s the sort of track that will make you open up RA, whilst bopping your head, just to check what’s on this weekend. But it is the sister track, ‘Square Down Smoother’, which will have you buying the ticket. Although largely atmospheric from first listen, it’s the groove of the hats and the pulsating bassline that propels the track forward. It’s mixed deep, so deep, and we’re glad for it.
If you’re one to get bored easily with the 4/4 pattern, Losoul’s got you covered. Turn up ‘Gold Tooth’ for some chopped up, breakbeat flow. Holding some nice jazz and hip-hop influences it’s impossible to miss that repetitive house sample, morphing throughout the 5 minute jam. Then there’s ‘Mean Time’, an industrial marching rhythm. The delay experimentation is quite unique, it kind of feels like a needle jumping on a record in the most concise way.
To close Losoul provides us with the incredibly eerie track ‘Lava In You’. The background pad notes sound very dreamy contrasting the horror like high notes in the track. These sounds ooze over the simple drum pattern like let’s say… lava? It truly fits the album title, and would work best in the early hours, during that special time at home after the party, where bed is not yet an option.
‘Island Time’ reminds me of Kremeier’s ever constant presence in the industry. Although in the shadows at times, after this record’s release, Losoul deserves to be of high talking point across the electronic music community.
Island Time is scheduled for release 27th April via Hypercolour, order a copy from Bandcamp.
TRACKLIST
A1. Echo Walk
A2. Boppin Lower
B1. Gold Tooth
B2. There We Were
C1. Square Down Smoother
C2. Mean Time
D1. Lava In You
Discover more about Losoul and Hypercolour on Inverted Audio.