Byron The Aquarius has remixed for Heist, appeared on Heist Records and done shows with Dam Swindle, but this is his first solo EP for the label. Akira gives you five tracks, four originals and a Kush Jones re-rub. First up is “I Love You,” a dreamy, gauzy sample loop jam with a tough, raw rhythm track. It’s a little bit melancholy, a little bit euphoric, its mood wonderfully bittersweet. “Get Up” is probably the most straight-up house tune on the EP, marrying crisp stabs, a ticking 4/4 groove and delayed vocal snippets to produce a reliable club jam. “Love” meanwhile takes things to a quite different place, upping the tempo and opting for breaks rather than house beats, adding three warm chord chimes and a little vocal sample all of which up to an extremely funky tune where again, he’s uncovered a very pleasing bittersweet melodic sweet spot.
“Success” features one of those slightly unexpected synth/keys-chord/melody combos that B the A does so well, a spoken word vocal and some beats straight out of house music history class 101, creating a spacious, direct jam that is as effective as it is different from the final track, the Kush Jones remix of “I Love You.” Jones keeps the chords and vocal while transforming the rhythm track and to my ears, just edging ahead of the original for sheer propulsive drive.
It’s an EP made of similar musical elements to a hundred other EPs released this week, but it’s what you do with those ingredients that counts, and here Byron the Aquarius has done something engaging, emotive, raw and soulful.
Byron The Aquarius: Akira EP featuring Kush Jones remix (Heist Recordings / Digital / October 2022)
1. Byron The Aquarius: I Love Yo (05:39)
2. Byron The Aquarius: Get Up (05:34)
3. Byron The Aquarius: Love (03:58)
4. Byron The Aquarius: Success (05:11)
5. Byron The Aquarius: I Love Yo (Kush Jones Remix) (04:58)
⚪️ Disclosure Statement: This record was submitted as a promo.
Previous Coverage:
From the Mind of Byron The Aquarius (2020)
#ListenUp Danced Til Midnight Drops a Funk Bomb with Real Love (2020)
Footwork House Jam #1 (2017)
