J Gabriel recently launched his Onysia imprint to a huge response, with support for the debut “Sundrop EP” coming from across the electronic music community. Chez Damier, Joris Voorn, and John Digweed, as well as those closer to home in the shape of Roger Gerressen, Traumer, and Archie Hamilton, are amongst the host of illustrious artists that have added this to their record arsenal. This time J Gabriel presents another facet of his production prowess – Mojo District.
Onysia’s morning sunshine theme continues in ‘Cafe Bohemia’ EP but it is ‘Elated’ on the B-side that has grabbed our attention most. Low slung and patient, ‘Elated’ wiggles and shimmers in and out of focus while a straight forward drum pattern keeps things ticking along at a great pace. It is in patiently developing the simplest of elements that the beauty in J Gabriel’s productions is revealed, ‘Elated’ being a prime example of this. The evolving filter synth lines and bounding bassline that props up the track speak volumes of J Gabriel’s knack for concocting upbeat yet positively catchy tracks that are built to blow minds during those magical early morning hours.
Elsewhere on the release, title track ‘Cafe Bohemia (Help Me)’ offers an even more upbeat alternative to ‘Elated’ and dips into the peak time hours with synthy basslines and melodies that twist and turn through the 10 minutes plus run time. There is just no avoiding the infectious sunshine vibes that are emitted from this track. This is a massive plus point as many house tracks in this spectrum can be overly moody and monotonous to the point of boredom. There is nothing boring about this EP and it is a breath of fresh air.
For those perhaps seeking a more peak time and slightly darker version of ‘Elated’ look no further than Pierre Codarin’s rerub. Speeding things up considerably Codarin takes this track in a much more head down direction and the upfront bassline bobs and weaves nicely through the drums while swathes of synth washes appear and disappear throughout the track. Fans of the original will be glad to know that the bliss-inducing moments are still intact just with added punch included. The vocal samples from the original are also used to great effect on this remix and are used to create some smart percussion points.
With early support coming in from heavy hitters such as Traumer, Raresh, Jorge Savoretti, and the Fuse London team of Archie Hamilton, Rich NxT and Enzo Siragusa, it is very clear that this EP has been doing damage on some serious dancefloors around the world.
To grab yourself a piece of the pre-sale action head over to Beatport.
More info on Onysia
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More info on J Gabriel
Facebook | Soundcloud