- Amidst all the hype around breaks and bleeps, So Inagawa is back to remind us that nothing beats a good house groove. Every track the Japanese producer has released on Cabaret Recordings, the label he runs with DJ Masda, has a great one, going all the back to "Logo Queen," a piano-laced deep house burner that's still the biggest tune the label has put out. (Considering his labelmates include some of the best-loved producers working today, that's an achievement.) Inagawa's last record was released in 2015, so the Airier EP is a comeback of sorts. And with bold electro-tinged efforts from Ekbox, Evan Baggs and others in the meantime, Cabaret's sound shifted so much that you had to wonder if there was a place left for Inagawa's laid-back deep house.
Airier resumes where Integritithm left off two years ago. The basslines are big and the mood is hazy, hovering in that twilit zone explored in mid-'00s deep house classics like Laid's "Punch Up." "Airier" is the track most loyal to this sound, with pads, a humming synth and hints of a diva vocal. "Head Over The Clouds" channels Thomas Melchior, Inagawa's favourite producer, in its rhythmic bassline and vocal snippets, turning dreamy with a sustained celestial tone—you might hear it the next time you catch a late-morning Zip set. The atmospheric "Petrichor" is somewhere between those tracks, with a bassline that recalls the bubbling low-end on Inagawa's contribution to Cabaret's Alien Family compilation. Where so many producers stick to the sounds of the past, So Inagawa is one of the few who remains timeless.
TracklistA1 Airier
B1 Petrichor
B2 Head Over The Clouds