This disc marks a big step for Montrealer Fred Everything. It signals the premier of his label, Lazy Day Recordings, and is the first to come out of his home studio. After eight years in San Francisco, he's back home and putting down roots.
If these 12 new tracks are any indication, that's all cause for celebration. Long Way Home opens with an absolutely cracking party tune, "Barbarella," that's every bit as flamboyant as its namesake. This is pure early '80s electric boogie, the kind of track a DJ can't wait to cue up.
Everything puts a number of styles to use over the course of the album; notably, we get his unique take on dub, and two well-executed vocal tracks. The first features South Africa's Sio, whom Everything remixed last year for the Atjazz label. She's got a sultry, animated voice that fits nicely with the track's summertime soul vibe — "By Day" deserves a 12-inch treatment.
The other vocal is a track called "Silver Light," which showcases the U.K.'s Jinadu over a pitch-perfect dub track. Suitably, his delivery is more heavily treated and sparse and Everything is onto a big idea here — modern dub tracks sometimes drag a bit, but Jinadu's performance lends the track personality and greater focus.
The bulk of the album feels like a string of first-class lounges and luxury hotels. Very rich, very cool and you very much don't want it to end.
(Lazy Days Recordings)If these 12 new tracks are any indication, that's all cause for celebration. Long Way Home opens with an absolutely cracking party tune, "Barbarella," that's every bit as flamboyant as its namesake. This is pure early '80s electric boogie, the kind of track a DJ can't wait to cue up.
Everything puts a number of styles to use over the course of the album; notably, we get his unique take on dub, and two well-executed vocal tracks. The first features South Africa's Sio, whom Everything remixed last year for the Atjazz label. She's got a sultry, animated voice that fits nicely with the track's summertime soul vibe — "By Day" deserves a 12-inch treatment.
The other vocal is a track called "Silver Light," which showcases the U.K.'s Jinadu over a pitch-perfect dub track. Suitably, his delivery is more heavily treated and sparse and Everything is onto a big idea here — modern dub tracks sometimes drag a bit, but Jinadu's performance lends the track personality and greater focus.
The bulk of the album feels like a string of first-class lounges and luxury hotels. Very rich, very cool and you very much don't want it to end.