Legendary Steve Miller aka Afterlife often is reduced to his Chill productions, a prediction that doesn’t reflect the skills this man has-not only in that specific genre. Of course his classic tracks like ‘Blue Bar’ or ‘Dub In Ya Mind’ which were included in the then massively selling Café del Mar compilation series, have made the man famous, but since then Steve Miller has released eight albums as Afterlife and various other projects with scene stalwarts like James Bright or Pete Gooding. Now his new album is ready to drop, again on his very own Subatomic stable-and what we get is a melange of sunshine music for the upcoming summer period. Some bits are chilly, others obscure Electronica ore even midtempo Deep House tracks. Everything Is Now’ is a title that not only sums up everything there is to say in three succinct words, but suggests there is something more to seek out. The album is about exploring the wealth of creative possibilities that Miller has to offer. Whether that’s beautiful, magical impacts of sound and vision, or the blue-sky thinking of the here and now, the productions contained within have assembled the raptures of cause and effect in abundance. From the broken-up beats of ‘Shelter’, right down to the tingling African melodies which infuse ‘Kora Kora Kora’ to the breezy Balearic emotions generated by ‘Celluloid. Even one of his alltime classics, ‘Speck Of Gold’ makes a welcome return via a brand new interpretation of the song. All in all this is another must have record from Afterlife-a record that has all the necessary elements to make the producer proud of being 25 years in the game! Great!
4.5 out of 5
Reviewed by MANNIX
