Super selections and wonderful words by our favourite four-to-the-floor expert, The Insider.

CHILAM BALAM / PAR LA FENETRE / PARTYFINE

Summer might be over, but you can properly keep it alive with this new one from Yuksek’s cultured Partyfine label. This is a second single from Chilam Balam, the Paris duo who only debuted in 2024 but have musical chops that speak to many years of experience. Disco, library music and jazz are their staples, but this release, ‘Par La Fenêtre’, is rich in hints of MPB and samba greats like Jorge Ben. It’s a breezy and charming electro-pop delight with lush strings, shuffling rhythms and gorgeously airy vocals from Voilaa Sounds System‘s Pat Kalla. This is so warm that you can almost feel the sun’s rays on your face despite the rainy reality outside. 

COFLO / WHO THE FREQUENCY / FREERANGE RECORDS

Read Bay Area, and most likely you’ll think of hip hop DJ Shadow, or the cartoonish house of DirtyBird. However, Freerange show the city has a different side with this EP from San Fran’s Coflo. He’s a student of the Afro-Brazilian martial art Capoeira, which is all about movement, spirituality and acrobatics, and this informs the 4 tunes here. ‘Yewnite‘ is a simmering deep house cut awash with shimmering melody, while ‘Who Da Frequency’ has more bold and resonant bass for a full body response. ‘Ring The Alarm’ then pulls back into lithe rubbery drums and bottom end with warped lines and sleazy vocals that hint at ghetto futures. ‘Yapperz‘ completes an inventive EP with analogue drums and glitches in a tribal groove that taps into ancient ritual through a modern lens.

FLASH ATKINS ALL STARS EP 1 / PAPER RECORDINGS

Flash Atkins is Ben Davis, the Paper Recordings label head and, if you ask us, an underrated figure in the UK dance music underground. This adventurous, authentic tribute to golden-era Afro disco with Felix Ngindu and Haggis Horn‘s Atholl Ransome and Malcolm Strachan is further proof.  ‘Sanza Mibale Ya Bo Pemi features Lingala language vocals and fat, funky bass, a sprinkling of congas and nimble jazz keys that throw the tune back to New York in the 1970s and cannot fail to get your ass wiggling. A Bosq remix ups the Latin swing, and a tasteful dub fleshes things out even more, making for an irresistible package. 

SESSION VICTIM / SIDEQUESTS CHAPTER TWO / DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR

Session Victim are proper musicians. They know how to play an array of instruments and how to do so in various styles, from Afro to deep house to disco, always with lashings of great samples. This second entry in their Sidequests trilogy opens with a remix from the ever-reliable Jimspter, who brings cosmic colour to a cuddly house warmer. Elsewhere, there are blissed-out sundown sounds like ‘Make It Happen‘ and dubby joints like ‘Too Soft To Be Loud’, while the gentle broken, seriously funky and tastefully jazzy licks of ‘Hubcap Candy‘ , for us, steal the show, though the downbeat and brassy introspection of ‘Behind the Glass‘ is also class.

BYRON THE AQUARIUS / GLOBAL CARESS / STAR CREATURE

How can you not love Byron The Aquarius? The former hip-hop producer turned deep house disrupter has such exquisite skills on a keyboard that his jams never fail to light us up. This outing on Star Creature finds him going deep and darker than usual, with raw analogue kicks throbbing beneath futuristic pads on ‘Bob Power it Again‘, and jazz-dance vibes infusing ‘Long Way Home‘ with real cosmic energy. ‘Jamajama‘ is a looser, more playful swinger with buzzy boogie leads. Byron is a pure vibes master, no matter what mood or tempo he cares to explore.

RETROMIGRATION / AUSFARHT 9 / WOLF MUSIC

Retromigration has a rich cultural heritage that clearly inspires his work. This Wolf Music release finds him drawing on traditional rhythms and percussion but rewriting them for the here and now. Opener ‘Unused‘ is a sumptuous deep house sound that echoes greats like Ron Trent and Fred P, but with more overt energy than those smoky masters. ‘Hurt‘ again drives with purpose, but also spirituality and ‘The Gene‘ is a mellifluous sound world with infinite horizons and liquid pads, its melodies swirling round a pillowy rhythm. ‘Exit 9‘ hits a little harder like a classic Abacus joint, and ‘Team Spirit‘ is a cosmic and jazzy dreamer. Sophisticated stuff. 

SOUL CLAP VS MOFUNK / SOUL CLAP

XL Middleton is a master of funk and boogie, who pulls from those genres’ rich traditions, but he does more than just repeat history. He brings these sonic languages to life in his own way, no matter who he works with. Here, he reunites with regular collaborators Moniquea, Soul Clap’s Charles Levine and FSQ’s Chuck Da Fonk. There’s swinging house to start with, loved-up, low slung sunshine on ‘Feeling Wide‘ and punchy warehouse tackle on ‘Red Light’. Last of all, ‘Brand New‘ sounds like an early Kerri Chandler jam. A serious package. 

MEGATRONIC / THERE’S TRUTH IN GOSPEL / RAZOR-N-TAPE

Megatronic is a proud champion of artists from Southwest Asia and North Africa who seeks to reimagine that musical heritage in everything she makes and plays. Razor-N-Tape is a perfect outlet for such carefully considered work, and she returns to label with a sophomore EP that’s  cleverly interwoven with musicality. House music forms the foundational grooves, but trumpets, flutes, and a plethora of percussion add the all-important character. Vocals from Fawziyya Heart, Aku and Chico Casid further stir your soul and result in sheer sonic catharsis. 

BIRDEE / YOUR LOVE / HOT CITY

Hot City is a brand new label from Italian artist Birdee whose goal is to make you “feel joyful and warm”. Mission accomplished, then, because the debut single ‘Your Love‘ is effortlessly uplifting and steeped in timeless vocals – care of Alexis Victoria Hall – that hark back to early soulful house. It’s an exquisite sound with swooning strings and a funky, knotted bassline, laden with loose-limbed percussion. From sun-kissed beaches to cosy winter basements and everything in between, this is one of those golden grooves that will never age. 

JKRIV / ADAPTATION / ROCKSTEADY DISCO

After six years away, JKriv slides back to Rocksteady Disco and it’s like he never left the party. This 5-track rocket pack is, like all his work, pure killer, written mostly on an MPC3000 and sounds like a love letter stitched together with dusty beats, juicy basslines and dancefloor mischief. Opener ‘Greene Street Lament‘ struts in with golden-age swagger before the title track effervesces with melodies that rise like champagne bubbles. Flip it over and things stay delightfully infectious with boogie house thumps, chopped-up breaks, and a dubby closer that’s as comforting a groove as you’ll hear this year. 

IRON CURTIS / DIAL ME IN / HUDD TRAXX

Iron Curtis has been quietly crafting house music for many years, so it’s fitting he is the first man to drop a full-length on West Yorkshire’s finest label, Hudd Traxx. He shows his full range here, and while there are concessions to the full-length format, such as an immersive ambient opener, steeped in cosmic radiance, there are also plenty of effective club cuts high on personality. The minimal kinetics of ‘Dial Me In‘ is a standout, while ‘Tensione‘ is dubby and elastic house, and ‘Dance Inc‘ slides into soft and dusty bliss for intimate backrooms. 

DUBBY & ANTAL / TECHNO KAYO / RUSH HOUR

Rush Hour founder Antal is a Jedi-level digger and musical documentarian so it’s always great to hear his latest project. In this case, Techno Kayō Vol. 1 – curated alongside Tokyo legend, Dubby – travels deep into Japan’s neon-lit underground and unearths 7 eccentric proto-techno and synthpop treasures from the 1980s. It captures the moment when Kraftwerk-inspired electronics collided with kayōkyoku pop, and spawned strange hybrids. Kinda city pop’s plugged-in, cooler cousin. Highlights include Kuniko Yamada’s Blondie-esque funk-rap ‘Tetsugaku Shiyo‘ and Kazuo Ohtani’s cinematic ‘Last Battle’. Essential, adventurous and gloriously odd, this is the sort of record that immediately levels up your collection.

GOOD VIBRATIONS VOL.3 / GOOD VIBRATIONS

Sean McCabe’s Good Vibrations Music continues to assert itself as a fine new outlet for soulful house vibrations. Stuff that works the head and the heart equally. It’s third drop kicks off with The Black Sonix & Sean McCabe mix of ‘Rise‘, and it’s pure emotion that amplifies the voices of Liberia’s Matsiko World Orphan Choir into a soaring anthem of hope. McCabe’s remix of David Bailey & MissFly’s ‘Baby Don’t Make Me Wait‘ drips with lush piano and string flourishes, then on the flip, Ellis Aaron joins McCabe for the irresistible swing of ‘Got It Bad’. Finally, Nubian & Goodbar close with ‘Dance Together”, a broken-beat soul and Rhodes-laced fusion for late-night lift-off.