Positive Vibes… Tracks that can’t help but make you smile, no matter how rubbish your mood is.
This week we’ve checked in with Ram signees Delta Heavy who’re pretty handy with positive vibes themselves. Tuck into Get By, the lead track off their new EP Down The Rabbit Hole, for a full frontal example of their uplifting capabilities, and indeed their dexterity as open minded producers. Embracing the best of classic UK garage with wild dubstep bass sensibilities, it’s sodden in positivity. If you’ve not checked it yet, here’s the vid…
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cOt9UcYGOU
“We nurtured Get By very carefully,” explains Si, one half of the heavyweight outfit. “We’re very happy with how it has developed with the range of styles we wanted to get in there; we’ve wanted to include garage in our music for a long time.”
“We feel we’ve done something quite different, too,” adds Ben, Si’s partner in grime. “That whole nostalgic 90s, cheesy poppy garage vibe was massive when we got into music. It’s quite personal in that way. That’s the sound we grew up with; when UK garage was big in the charts. It’s good to reflect that in our music; we don’t really like one style, we love all kinds of music and I hope that comes through on our releases.”
Bolstering this open-eared approach even further, Get By is one of just six tracks on the EP that stretches from 110-174bpm. There’s steel drum-led dubstep (Demons), rattling n’ roaring D&B (Turbine), slo-mo, half-time D&B (Make It Rain) and End Of Days, a vicious industrial banger with a speaker ravaging bassline that’s likely to cause a fair amount of murderation in the festivals this summer.
“It was actually inspired by a YouTube trailer for Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes,” explains Ben. “It had this grinding mechanical sound which we really liked. We wanted to capture that Hans Zimmer soundtrack vibe in an intro. That’s probably our most traditional drum & bass tune on the EP.”
Check out the whole EP here. And once you’ve done that, explore Delta Heavy’s influences in the collection of expertly chosen positive vibes…
Jessie Ware – Running [Disclosure Remix]
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3ObpwLzzpk
Ben: “Our garage influences showing through again! This is a very recent one but it’s been on repeat since we first heard it.”
Si: “We’ve known about Disclosure for a while but this has really broken them out into the mainstream.”
Ben: “Yeah, it’s a bit of a game changer really. It’s got that nostalgic feel, but while a lot of garage references come across as cheesy and gimmicky, this is really forward thinking. It’s all about taking something that people are familiar with but bringing them up to date. I think that’s how people understand tracks and relate to them. It’s about giving someone a hint but making sure it has its own twist.”
Friendly Fires – Paris [Aeroplane Remix]
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzicqExJW3A
Si: “This just reminds me of summer; beach, drinks, friends, everyone being very happy. We were at Soundwave festival and this just kept popping into my head. It was my own private soundtrack as I enjoyed the festival.”
Ben: “Production-wise it’s spot on too. We love Aeroplane anyway but this really is special. There’s that great 80s sound to the synths, there’s some disco vibes in there and just a touch of that French Ed Banger sound too. The fact that they just use the female part of the vocal is really cool too.”
Si: “It’s a remix in the most extreme sense; it’s almost unrecognisable from the original tune. That’s quite inspiring for us as producers; since hearing this we’ve been a lot more creative with our remixes, turning things completely on their heads.”
Todd Terje – Inspector Norse
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSlfnmztlkg&feature=fvst
Si: “This is the happiest tune ever!”
Ben: “We listen to a lot of techno and deep house and this is one of the happiest tracks I’ve ever heard. The production is so warm and juicy.”
Si: “There’s nothing really like it out there. You can’t help but smile when it comes on. Our friend had a party recently. People were just chilling and chatting, then someone dropped this and everyone was on the dancefloor.”
Ben: “It’s so good it had two rewinds!”
