Jake Twell Reconnection 2021


It is fairly self evident that music needs to come back (well, in a live and direct sense anyway) and has been on hiatus for too long. We’ve all spent an alarmingly uncommon amount of time actually caring about what people are up to in New Zealand and it’s high time we get our dancing shoes back on and pop into the local offy for road beers on the way to literally any club possible. Sadly, DJs have been out of action for so long that creativity is running low and it shows. Luckily, Jake Twell is ready to set the Midlands ablaze once again when the 21st of June rolls around, and he has a brand new box of tricks to break in his mixing fingers with. Reconnection is his latest album comprising 7 unique house tracks that remind us all what we have been missing, and that we could all do with a little musical reconnection of our own.


Beams

This track hits right in the nostalgia bone. If you are a massive fan of Nice and Ripe garage, this tune delivers that kind of soft wobbling bassline that would make Eliza Rose proud. The track bounces perfectly and calls upon a mix of synths that transports you back to the kind of mixes that you would hear Groove Armada or the Chemical Brothers spinning back in the turn of the 2010 era. Good lord what we would probably all give to go back there. Luckily, this track lets you do just that for a generous six and a half minutes!

Play That Funky Music

Now, this one will catch you totally on the wrong foot. The name suggests you might be hit with a well executed reimagining of an 80s funk classic, but instead you will be offered a completely different (and equally enjoyable experience) courtesy of this delightfully smooth number. The soulful vocals and silky bassline roll like honey off a spoon providing an unmistakably present sense of chill. You can just as capably see yourself playing this as you get in the mood for a night out, or whilst you tuck into an expensive meal in a central London Restaurant. Summer vibes for sure. Let’s just hope it stops raining.

I can Dance

With this track, Jake draws inspiration from the legendary archives of mid-twentytens Tech House as he comes loaded with a punchy bassline and the kind of seductive female vocals that really pull you into the element of a hot rave. It has that kind of feel that you’ll typically find on a Subsoul playlist. Aptly named ‘I Can Dance’, it doesn’t matter if you can or can’t dance, this track will certainly have you feeling confident that you can.

Let It Bump

A far more minimalistic opening than the other tracks on the album, ‘Let It Bump’ offers a wholly more organic feel in its opening that much like ‘Play That Funky Music’, gives way to an experience totally removed from your expectation. You can’t ignore that ridiculously funky bass guitar riff, or the perfect layering of assertive and sensual vocals. By the song's midpoint, the simplicity of the opening has been totally shaken off and you are faced with a track that just oozes funk from every element.

Music Was My First

Very suggestively named, this tune certainly harkens back to a bygone era of synth. Elongated progressive notes come accompanied by choral vocals that then break into empowering calls to action, later giving way to punctuating Italo House style keyboard notes. It also has this gradual building, falling and transforming synth that stays with you the whole track through and keeps you in lock step with the beat. It's the kind of track that you can imagine keeping you going the distance on a night and long into the morning, even if you ran out of energy two hours ago.

Paraphrase

This one brings a vibe that stands totally alone on the album, contrasting a gritty almost UK funky opening with soft wavy synths and glitchy broken vocals that take their roots in the darker ether of Acid House classics. The whole tune is infectious from start to finish with the way it builds and then reverbs out. Where many of the other tracks draw inspiration from funk and more Americanised House, there is something strikingly UK rave inspired about this one, and there probably isn't a better setting to hear it live.

La Verite

The title alone provides a welcome taste on what listeners can look forward to with this track. There is certainly an unmistakable sense of French Electro hedonism about this tune that stays with you during and after. It is sexy and cool but also remarkably inclusive in its composition. This is the kind of song that I imagine Twell will be drawing for as he christens a new batch of virgin revellers into a life of House Music.