Whenever Steve Miller comes up with something new, you better hold your breath. After releasing a bunch of albums for imprints like Hed Kandi and being described as one of the leading figures of Chillout (which he actually really is) the man who nowadays lives in Ibiza, concentrates on output on his very own Subatomic label. Basically you can say he serves up a new album each year plus various other projects with long time partners like Lenny Ibizarre, Pete Gooding or Chris Coco. The tracks on his very new ‘Into The Heat’ EP are a little bit more eclectic than you might expect, but the quality of the sounds of course is still there. Refreshing your style from time to time can be a good thing too-and is in this very case. King of Italo Disco and maverick electronic producer DJ Rocca remixes ‘Si Si Si’, which is probably the most impressing track on the record. The Italian don chops out lines of 80’s groove, while taut basslines dance around handclaps, complimenting the decades defining keyboard sound. He offsets this by adding a stuttering vocal on his ‘Erodisco Mix’.
‘Wanderlust’ goes deep. Emotive piano and timely pads are driven by elastic electronic beats, capturing the shift between gears which Afterlife does so well. ‘Jolly Up’ has a chiming infusion of African repetition and powerfully addictive melodies, topped off by the rolling chug of drums and bass. Closing out the EP Rocca conjurs up the darkness with is ‘Dark Arts Mix’. It’s another take on the original but filled out with some very blissful keys. All in all this is a beauty of an EP. Nuff said.
https://www.junodownload.com/products/afterlife-into-the-heat/4529278-02/
4 out of 5
Reviewed by MANNIX
