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

MARINA TRENCH / WATCHING BACK / SWEET STATE

The world is a miserable place right now, so as much as we love a grotty techno workout, the sort of loved-up house Marina Trench makes is hitting extra hard. Fresh off a track for Razor-N-Tape earlier in the year, the French artist is back with more sonic balm that has a subtle nostalgic tug. ‘What I Do‘ has lazy, sun-damaged chords that remind us of early chillwave and have the same horizontal appeal. ‘Get High (If You’re Looking for Love)’ is more upright with a shuffling, off-beat drum pattern and rousing chord structure, while ‘Shake Zone’ – featuring Yaje – is a little more sleazy and swagger-y in its broken beats and sugary synth radiance. It’s playful, good-time music done with sophistication that also comes as a cosmic instrumental. 

DID VIRGO / DREAM ALONE / RAVANELLI DISCO CLUB

There is a gritty underbelly to Marseille that has always bubbled up through the music of Did Virgo, one of the city’s veteran electronic pioneers. He’s co-founder of La Dame Noir and an architect of dark disco, and even when going solo there is an alluring menace to his music. ‘Dream Alone‘, for key local label Ravanelli Disco Club, is a warped, elastic acid and dub disco bubbler. There’s a hefty chug to the low end that Weatherall would have loved, and a soot black mood to Mickey L’Ange‘s muttered vocals. Black Spuma speeds the track up, elongates the acid and turns on the strobes. JKriv‘s rework swirls with mutant disco sleaze, while Marc Brauner goes for a cleaner, front-foot house cut that surges on waves of proggy synth. A very useful package. 

UNIVERSO POSITIVO / REMIXED

Universo Positivo is staking a strong claim for one of the breakout house labels of the year. There’s plenty of range to what it puts out, and much of the music comes from founder Joseph Salvado. However, this remix EP enlists some of the imprint’s biggest names yet. Atlanta deep house architect Kai Alce zones you out with a groove that’ll have you staring off to the middle distance while soft focus melodies unfurl up top. Sean McCabe then gets jazzy, with busier melodic patterns and excitable programming. JKriv then brings the sunshine with his classy, swinging celebration. The clubbiest of the lot comes from Medlar, whose bubbly drums and synths come on like a massive sugar rush. Oh yeah!

CORSELETTE / DON’T DOUBT YOUR POWER (TERRY FARLEY & WADE TEO REMIXES)

We have no clue who Corselette is. It’s a new name, but must be someone with years in the game, because the vocal she turns out here is a pearler! The production is taken care of by Human League founder member / legend Martyn Ware, who’s then been remixed by UK house royalty Terry Farley and Wade Teo. Their first version is aloof, low slung house with nu-disco synth fireworks, plus muted but natty jazz chords. Corselette’s voice is the focus – crystal clear and pure with a Sophie Ellis Bexter pop charm but also plenty of Balearic warmth. The House Vocal mix is tweaked for when the lights go down and the mood is a little more dialled in. Who is this elusive singer?

CRACKAZAT / SUN / FREERANGE RECORDS

Sweden-based Brit Crackazat is no stranger to a full-length, with many already under his belt. He reckons this is the one he’s always wanted to make, though… And you can tell. It’s the most ambitious and also the most complete and comprehensive set of the multi-instrumentalist’s career. Imagine Robert Glasper and Thundercat, Brand New Heavies and Alfa Mist all together on one record, and you should get the idea of the scope here. Jazz, boogie, hip-hop, cosmic and funk all feature in these richly constructed grooves. There are swooning R&B falsettos, smoky neo-soul confessionals and prickly dance floor workouts along the way. Each time you run it back, you’ll find something new to love, which is why it’s likely to end up as one of the albums of the year.  

FRANCK ROGER / VIBE ME TO THE MOON

Franck Roger has been around almost as long as house music itself. The Frenchman tends towards the deeper end of the spectrum, always with a traditional bent and focus on atmosphere more than attention grabbing. For this one he works with recent Nervous Records alumnus Rona Ray, and the result is a tune that lodges much deeper than it would with a less sophisticated top line. Ray really shines with an unhurried, weightless vocal, which soars without losing touch with the groove. She delivers sustained notes and more articulated words with equal grace, and the effect is pure catharsis. 

GLEDD / MY HOUSE IS YOUR CHURCH / DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR

The church of house has a new preacher and he’s Italian as Gledd arrives with a debut EP that takes the spiritual dimension of this music to new heights. Importantly, it’s pulled off with genuine conviction and deep authority. ‘On His Way‘ opens proceedings with a gospel vocal so massive it could raise the roof of an actual cathedral, but is anchored by heavyweight low-end that keeps things earthbound. ‘It’s Not That Easy‘ weaves organ fills and tropical warmth into something uplifting and commanding. ‘Habibi Gospel‘ bridges cultures with wild, expressive abandon and ‘Can You Hear My Noise‘ closes the sermon beautifully. The congregation will surely rise to this one. 

EMANUEL CISI / PHAROAHS ( JOE CLAUSSELL REMIXES) / RIGHT TEMPO

When Joaquin Joe Claussell takes something apart, the results he rebuilds are never quite of this world. His three reinterpretations of Emanuele Cisi‘s spiritually charged composition, which is rooted in the modal mysticism of the jazz greats Pharoah Sanders and John Coltrane, are exactly that: monumental, breathing sonic architectures where live instrumentation meets deep rhythmic consciousness. ‘The Sacred Rhythm Epic Journey‘ unfolds as a vocal odyssey of genuine transcendence; the ‘Cosmic Dub‘ is percussive, hypnotic and ancestrally rooted. A third version follows and also exists outside of time and scene. This is not just dance-floor material, but true musical ceremony with Claussell at his visionary best. 

MANOOZ / JACK THE BASS & TIME 4 HOUZE! / STAR CREATURE

Chicago called and Mannheim answered with this one as German artist ManooZ touches down on Windy City label Star Creature‘s Global Caress imprint. It’s a portal to a world of raw analogue machinery, un-quantised swing and a hip-hop instinct running deep beneath the kick. This is house music built for rooms where the ceiling drips and the strobes flash – real places with all the imperfections and dirt that comes with it – rather than sanitised streaming dashboards and algorithmic playlists. ‘Jack The Bass‘ is an 80s proto-house grind and ‘Time 4 Houze!‘ wraps an impossibly quotable lyric around a groove that Frankie Knuckles would have recognised immediately. Deliciously dark and inviting stuff. 

MIDNIGHT MAGIC / CHOREOGRAPHY / RAZOR-N-TAPE

Tiffany Roth‘s Midnight Magic have got some serious credentials, having helped shape the disco-house sound with several big tunes back at the turn of the century. They are a genuine supergroup drawn from the orbits of DFA and Daptone, and now return to Razor-N-Tape to deliver exactly what the faithful have been waiting for. Roth’s bewitching vocal on ‘Choreography‘ calls out to other worlds over interplanetary horn and synth showers. It’s a typically punky, low-slung sound powered by sleazy bass riffs that are completely irresistible, and doused in cosmic ambition. There’s a live-wire energy that makes it all the more warm and real.

ARSENE / IT’S A FEELING / STAR CREATURE

Even by their own unwaveringly high standards, Chicago’s Star Creature label is on a hell of a run right now, and the  Global Caress series is a key part of that. The latest entry is from Windy-City born Brooklyn resident Arsene, whose love of hardware is front and centre here. East Coast influences abound from the off, with ‘It’s A Feeling‘ exploring deep, dark soulful house, with wispy pads and elastic bass under some menacing vocal musing. ‘Hot Sweaty Nights‘ has jazz-funk chords and pixelated melodies framing a more cosmic outlook, while ‘1-55‘ slips into a late night reverie with soft focus hooks and a diffuse, candle-lit intimacy. The closer is more self-contained and hunkered down in dusty drums and sharp hi-hats. This is deep house with grit. 

THIRTY YEARS OF FREERANGE / FREERANGE RECORDS

Thirty years in might be a time to take stock and self-congratulate, but not for UK house staple Freerange. Instead, Jimpster‘s consistently excellent label continues to move forward with the first of 5 EPs that will culminate in an epic boxset of all-new music. Ralph Session and Brandon Markell Holmes kick things off in life-affirming fashion with Philly soul grandeur and a magnificent groove, while Philippa taps into a vocoder-laced electronic cut that never lets up. Palm Skin Productions goes deep into wonky acid house – something for when minds are already pickled – and Josh Wink shows his tender side with the thoughtful pads of ‘NGF‘. Nacho Marco makes a fine return to the label with lush melancholic deepness, and Lovebirds closes the collection with a blissed-out late night lullaby. The scope and sophistication of this EP is exactly what’s kept Freerange relevant all these years.