UPFRONTBEATS

Audiojack’s Gruuv imprint kick-starts 2015 with Hugo’s ‘Ultravogue’ EP, backed with a remix from hotly tipped Greek producer Detlef.

The Leeds born now Ibiza based Gruuv imprint had a great 2014 with releases from the likes of Cera Alba, Black Loops, Copy Paste Soul and Okain grabbing the attention of BBC Radio 1’s B.Traits and Danny Howard. Further backing came from heavy hitting names such as Breach, Eats Everything, Darius Syrossian and Maya Jane Coles to name but a few, 2015’s set to be yet another exciting year for Gruuv with lots in the pipeline, the first of which comes from Italian producer Hugo.

Title cut ‘Ultravogue’ takes the lead here, showcasing Hugo’s stripped-back, hypnotic vibe with smoky atmospherics, weighty rhythms and a heavy dose of sub bass driving the composition while sporadic vocal murmurs and glitching percussive blips add a further mesmeric charm to things.

The original mix of ‘Pendulum ft. Heral’ comes next, retaining a similar aesthetic to the previous cut with a raw, drum-led groove, assisted by earth-shattering bass tones and looped vocal undertones. Stepping up on remix duties next is ViVa Warriors main man Detlef who stamps his mark on ‘Pendulum’ with a more upfront dance floor focused feel, achieved via penetrating distorted drums, a stab-driven bass hook and mind-bending atmospheric sweeps.

Finally to round things off we have ‘Metaloop’, the third and final original from Hugo which further displays his unique ability for crafting intricate drum work with stuttering snares, bouncing tom hits and processed synth licks lying in an ever-evolving state over the records seven-minute duration.