Release date : Oct. 2019
Artwork : ©Tokio Aoyama
Design – Reflect Creativity
Mastered By – Simon Davey
Producer – Inkswel
Vocals – Stan Smith
The brainchild of Australian-born, Berlin-based vibist Inkswel and fellow production companion Stan Smith, Active Ingredients break in Cosmocities' catalogue with “The Middle” - a seven-track slab championing a sound both otherworldly funky and full to the brim with feelgood, soothingly carefree material.
First shot of their trademark vivid strain of low-slung house and weed-oozing grooves, title-cut “The Middle” feat. Jack Strempel gets the ball rolling Cali-funk style. Lo-riding across palm tree-studded avenues, chromed wheels blazing in the red hot sun, Inkswel and Smith dish out a proper vibin’ slice of jacuzzi-warm hip-hop beats. Exuding pure summer-flavoured leisureliness, second number “Toast 2 Luck” rolls out the same vein of vaporous rap and laid-back boogie, followed by the erotic sluggishness of late 70s disco-laced cut “General Hot”, which will teleport dancers straight to a heavenly port of call.
Flip sides and here’s some extra soulful heat for your ears with “The Energy Above”, a sample-heavy detour via Stax-era orchestrations and classic 90s hip-hop that’ll slap a smile on the face of nostalgics of both periods. Mood switches with the further forward-moving “Keep Pushing” feat. Charli Umami playing tricks on your mind with a flock of bloopy FX, solar-powered piano and a finely inlaid haunting melody to top things off. Jacking and shuffling, “Skipping Rocks” cuts a path of bassy destruction across the dancefloor with its powerhouse subs and flat-out pumping jazz step, whilst “UK’s Herbie Hancock” (as dubbed by BBC stalwart figure Benji B) alias Kaidi Tatham provides the supa-funky wares with his Sun Ra-esque revamp of “The Middle”, as he turns the og mix into a proper free-flowing piece of keyboard playing bravura and straight out sensual boogie music.
Tracks
