As one of the frontrunners of the new Portuguese house sound Photonz has been flexing a balance between the UK and the Continent way before it became a question of ZIP codes for him, and the EP’s true to this intricate signature. On the flipside, Silverback staple The Phantom reinterprets Parque da Liberdade as an old school flavoured, meditation-tinged piano jam, while London heavyweight Ikonika injects the same track with a dose of her trademark retrofuturistic funky.
Beach Mode (Keep It Simple) is the perfect snapshot of Ikonika’s new album ‘Aerotropolis’. It’s also her first vocal track, graced with the voice of One To Watch, Jessy Lanza. Beach Mode combines sunny salsa-like chords and claves, inspired by latin freestyle dance music from the 80s, with Jessy’s vocals cutting in over some soaring rough synths. It’s a refreshingly straight forward and sensual piece of pop dance. Side B starts with a dub mix for all the vocal haters, while the Percapella version breaks it down into a syncopated drum track and a slightly dubbed take on the vocals, giving it a tracky and colder toughness reminiscent of early Chicago house music.
The Hipodrome Of Music 