martin brodin

EP Review: Disappearer - Avec feat. Jake Shears

Buy the radio edit on iTunes: http://bit.ly/DisappearerRadioEdit Premiered by Annie Mac on BBC Radio 1, Avec is a new collaboration between Doorly & Dave Spoon, with the debut single featuring Jake Shears (Scissor Sisters) on vocals.

Disappearer comes from Doorly and Shadow Child, who have formed a new partnership in Avec. Here they are joined by Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters, who applies his trademark falsetto vocals to an upbeat house track.

Shears and Scissor Sisters have never been my bag but this EP feels like a natural home for his vocals. The track itself is sunny disco house and as a result the vocals sit quite naturally on the melodic piano riff that makes up the track's central riff. It is only really on the chorus that the identity of the singer is obvious, and the main vocal hook is just a little too much for my taste.

Disappearer - Avec feat. Jake Shears

Thankfully a total of five remixes are included on this release and so there is plenty of scope for a little additional subtlety.

The Hauswerks mix starts with a deep looping groove before applying a large drop with some snappy garage drum beats - it's a lot more intense than the warm summery original. Martin Brodin does his trademark disco thing and really takes the track up a level, working the vocal into the track so that the final result has a much better flow. The People Get Real mix is another disco house mix, but this one builds to a climatic pace whilst a head-nodding bass line provides an infectious rhythm and a series of drum rolls and crashes give a tactile feel to the percussion.

The Sona Vabos Pitched Down Jackin Dub is deep, dubby and slowed right down to create a weird strung-out and techy vibe that bears little resemblance to the original. Finally the Maos mix is laid back and dubby with some warm bass chords and slow synth melodies.

Disappearer is out now through Southern Fried Records.