- Junes is Neil McDermott, a DJ and producer from Newcastle who runs the label Galdoors with his brother, Tames. In the three records he's put out so far, he's presented a subtle and left-leaning style of house, aligning himself with artists like Leif, who gave us Galdoors' excellent last release. McDermott has said that his goal is simply to make tracks that DJs he likes would play, and on that front he's succeeded: Ben UFO introduced many of us to Junes when he included "Transfer" on RA.500. More recently, the Hessle Audio DJ has been playing "Precipice," the B2 from Junes' new EP, Trails, which came out this summer on Galdoors.
Perhaps unusually for a new producer, McDermott's sound has become more conventional over time: where Colours was full of irregular rhythms, Root Pattern was mostly 4/4, save for the lurching and chaotic "Iced." Now, with Trails, he's arrived at completely standard, if nicely honed, deep house. All three tracks work from the same blueprint, assembling punchy beats within dreamlike atmospheres. The title track, with its tight shuffle and druggy, disembodied vocal sample, has an air of Perlon to it. "Shift State" has the same sharp hi-hats and perfectly sculpted kicks, but set to a linear techno groove. "Precipice" goes for a more organic palette, with woody toms and a sample of what sounds like an upright bass, but it still strikes a similar chord to the other two. All three are lush in the way we've come to expect from Galdoors, and, no doubt, supremely playable, but as a whole they come off sounding a bit too straight. Let's hope the weirder personality of McDermott's first records isn't gone for good.
TracklistA1 Trails
B1 Shift State
B2 Precipice