Phreeqz EP

Description

Respect The Craft returns for its seventh release, with label founder Tripmastaz back on solo duties for "Phreeqz EP". Three tracks, three different shades of house, and a reminder of how naturally Andrei moves between the genre’s many dialects. After more than two decades refining his corner of electronic music, his talent hardly needs an introduction. 'Phreeqz' takes the entire A-side with the kind of loose, infectious energy that has long been central to Tripmastaz’s music. A bouncing bassline and rolling kicks do the heavy lifting, while vocals from SNVRS cut through the groove, marking his return to the label after collaborating with Tripmastaz and Ricardo Villalobos on RTC002. Moody pads, synth textures and sharp percussive hits give the track a slightly futuristic edge. It’s playful and immediate, but detailed enough to remain surprising and sophisticated. 'Puga4' is considerably less interested in restraint. Filtered percussion, a deeply physical low-end and ecstatic synth stabs push it straight into peak-time territory, building the kind of pressure made for the busiest festival floors. 'Thee Unda Digg Vybe' closes the EP on a more understated, slightly off-centre note, folding hints of UK house into moody piano phrases, woody percussion and a playful, almost jazz-like exchange between bass and synth. Vocal fragments drift through a spacious, cinematic arrangement, giving the track a strange future-jazz character equally suited to the beginning of a night or its final stretch. "Phreeqz EP" doesn’t try to force its three tracks into a single mood. What connects them is Tripmastaz’s instinct for rhythm: the small shifts, accents and production decisions that can turn a relatively simple house framework into something with its own identity. And seven releases in, Respect The Craft continues to live up to its name.