Delayed Audio – Delayed EP1 – Review 4

Posted In REVIEWS

When a new label comes along, often with a swagger and high expectation, you do wonder how in the hell will it survive. That’s not necessarily a pessimistic stance, more a judicious view of an industry that competes rigorously with the illegal download, and in more recent times, the frugal and distracted consumer.

Yet somehow, this never deters the birth of a spritely and hungry imprint to enter our music cosmos. However the first EP from Delayed Audio, a Brighton born and bred label, seemingly hasn’t arrived kicking and screaming – although if anything its introduction to us was slightly delayed, but never late they insist. The proud parents possess familiar faces, that of Richard Harmer (Black Key Records) and Paul Budd (The Unity Agency/Disco Deviant) who are both more than equipped to deal with the potential teething problems and frequent late nights that come with such obligations.

Delayed EP1 generally sums up their ethos and approach, as you would possibly expect on a first outing, of a label that clearly intends to make an immediate impact. Genre defining may now be an over-used and under-appreciated term declared by the people who just want to sell, however Delayed Audio have simply chosen to demonstrate it.

Recruiting the services of Chamboche (aka Sam Williams) was probably a no brainer for Harmer, after seeing him produce similar quality under Black Key. With ‘Anodyne’, though, you’re treated to some truly rich deep house, peppered with broken beats and rebounding vocals, all topped off with a bass line that craves the after hours.

Session9, comprising of Ben Max & K-Bana, have been applying their Djing trade for many years, and ‘Ambient Clutter’ is testament to their long standing admiration for tech and deep house, with the in-favour Ejeca providing a version that again highlights his natural ability to fuse garage and house.
And to finish, Last Mood’s ‘Superstition’ is a wall-crawling, tormenting portion of slo-mo electronica that completes a rather accomplished opener from a label that may just do more than survive.