The continuous activity of Locus Sound has quickly become something to admire. Delivering some of my favourites throughout the year from the likes of Maes and Cartridge, the Bristol based label are already looking to branch out whilst keeping things strictly bass centric. Opening up a new outlet for multi-genre projects, Locus Sound welcome fellow Bristol native Roy Bar to the stacked roster, and it’s a perfect fit. ‘Icarus‘ moves through six tracks of addictive and diverse dance floor heaters whilst rolling through an impressive wide range of tempos. Being the 140 obsessive that I am however, it’s a pleasure to be premiering the lone Dubstep focused track of the six, ‘Growler‘.
Opening with the title track ‘Icarus‘, you’ll soon realise the creative, meticulous synth lines and catchy body movin’ rhythms are no fluke. ‘Hemlock Riddim’ is nothing short of an uplifting dance-floor stimulant with wildly swinging break-beats and catchy melodies, before the mood swinging, tempo tweaking nature of the record takes us into the the slower-paced patterns of ‘Pineapple Kush‘, locked and loaded with heavy 808s and the tenacious vocals of Axel Holy, a welcome vocal feature on the release. Covering all bases, Roy Bar brings the nostalgia laced garage sounds into 2020 with ‘IFYB’ before flexing his 140 credentials on today’s premiere ‘Growler’. A rather apt title, Roy Bar makes plenty of space for the snarling, pulsating low end action that dominates the track with charming little details within. Like a one man energy generator, Roy Bar finishes with the lively DnB chops of ‘You Touched My Mind’, laced with emotive, choppy vocal cuts, sharp skips of the snare and a silky smooth bass-line.
As mentioned earlier, Roy Bar‘s appearance on Locus Sound‘s new ‘multi genre’ branch is a perfect fit. I’ve casually listened to some of his stuff recently, blindly wondering what he actually specialises in, turns out he can pull off almost anything and ‘LOCUSM‘ is the ideal platform for such range to be exhibited. On a label closely focused on Dubstep and 140, every track still sits so neatly under the Locus Sound umbrella and for such a relatively small, independent imprint, that’s a triumph in both musicianship and A&R.
LOCUSM001 is out now and available to download here.
Check out Roy Bar on Soundcloud.
Check out Locus Sound on Soundcloud.