Orlando B.: Future Resist EP
Yore

Orlando Britain's follow-up to his Yore debut, Beneath the Surface, is possibly an even more fabulous quartet of tracks than that 2010 offering. The UK producer laid down the new release's material in West London, but its heart and soul lies an ocean away, as the “Motor City” track title suggests; Britain's also got a soft spot for classic house and techno, as evidenced by the title he's given to the thirty-minute EP.

The silky smooth opener “Contemplate” is certainly capable of inducing a contemplative state, armed as it is with a sparkling flow of warm Rhodes melodies, crisp house beats, and creamy analog synthesizers. Here and elsewhere, Britain dresses up his soulful material with a plentiude of percussive and vocal touches (a rather indecipherable voiceover in “Motor City” and soulful exhortations in “It Ain't Over”). “Motor City” digs into its dizzying swirl of thudding bass lines and stepping beats with all the passion and joy one would expect, while the rapturous closer “It Ain't Over” drapes a syncopated keyboard theme and light-streaming synth chords over a slamming house pulse to marvelous effect. The EP's effervescent vibe makes its luscious material all the more appealing, and so too do tight jacking grooves that are more likely to soothe than agitate.

April 2011