Topher Horn: Magic Made Real EP
Yore Records

The four effervescent cuts on Topher Horn's Magic Made Real embody Yore's classic house ethos superbly when the Detroit producer augments feverish grooves and synthesizer flourishes with live-sounding acoustic details. Horn's no upstart but rather a seasoned creator whose originals and remixes have appeared on Rocksteady Disco, White Horse, and Shadeleaf, among others, and who's created ad-related music for clients such as Audi, BMW, Hugo Boss, Porsche, and Samsung. A music theory and composition graduate of Wayne State University, he's also produced soundtracks for television shows and film and dance projects. The man, in short, brings skills to this Yore outing.

With congas beefing up the bass-thudding low end, “From the Stars” struts with laser-minded purpose. In classic style, Horn builds the arrangement gradually until piano chords help settle the tune into its groove. Organ accents and frothy cymbals add texture to an already rich sound design, the producer's command of the track's flow and dancefloor potential clearly evident. With a kick drum and wiry bass throb as the main power source, “Fall in Love” pumps even more deliriously, especially when radiant synth touches and a funky keyboard riff's factored in.

It's the EP's slightly slower third track, however, that's the most irresistible. A seductive floor-filler, “Milos” appears to channel “Superstition”-era Stevie Wonder during its second half when the arrangement advances from its stomping synth-accented beginnings into an even funkier clavinet-sweetened episode. The swinging closer “Projections” can't help but feel a tad anticlimactic coming after something so fabulous, but the muscularity of its insistent throb leaves a strong impression too. Above all else, Magic Made Real feels like a natural addition to Yore's catalogue.

May 2020