Sold Date: March 11, 2019
Start Date: January 21, 2017
Final Price: £17.99 (GBP)
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Mint copy.

1. Diffused

2. Undertaker

3. Diffused (S.P.Y. Remix)

4. Diffused (Opiuo Remix)

Diffuse (verb): spread over a wide area or among a large number of people… Sometimes track titles genuinely write themselves.

A global hook-up between New Zealand and Holland, this bone-shaking slice of emotion-caked D&B has already spread itself across the planet. And it’s about to spread itself over every discerning dancefloor.

Within seconds of pressing play you’ll hear why. Opening with a dreamy synth hook, minor-key melody and distant, inward-seeking vocals, ‘Diffused’ is The Upbeats at their most pensive and contemplative. Triplet kick drums tease before the drop then BOOM: the rolling groove hits you like a fleet of magic carpets, whisking you to far-off places you didn’t even know existed. Known for their consistent variety, ‘Diffused’ is infallible proof that The Upbeats can go just as deep as they can hard.

Remix-wise S.P.Y was the perfect choice. Fresh from winning Best Album at the Drum&BassArena Awards, the Brazilian’s penchant for soul, depth and melodic clarity is reflected in abundance throughout his reversion. Paying respect to the original, he’s maintained the arrangement and hook while adding his own skippy drumwork and sonic-boom hits on the bassline.

Elsewhere we find Aussie producer Opiuo cooking up an entirely different flavour. Pushing the tempo down to glitch territory, he’s grafted the lush chords into a swaggering, spliced groove that shimmers and sparkles with equal measure of funk and stomp. A true schooling in tempo-flexing, you can file this re-rub under ‘special’.

‘The Undertaker’ finishes the set, and does so with a knowing nod. An all-out sonic shocker, if you’ve picked up on their previous work for Bad Taste, Lifted, Ganja-Tek, or indeed their collaborative work with Vision bosses Noisia, then you’ll be well aware of the duo’s darker dance capabilities. Growling and grizzling with perfectly measured menace, ‘Undertaker’ will pile-drive your floor into submission with true distinction.