Swedish label studio Barnhus’s latest string of releases have been intriguingly eclectic, from Bella Boo’s iterations of dancehall to Nikki Nair’s most un-Nikki Nair track to date. In the case of Baltimore producer LADYMONIX, the label touches on classic Chicago house. But, of course, things are never quite as straightforward over at Barnhus. Welcome 2 My House slightly tweaks the formulas of those classic house styles that LADYMONIX is best known for studying to perfection. She freshens it up ever so slightly with tart touches of Eurohouse, and pressurises the whole thing with a vaulted tension borrowed from the techno of her adopted Detroit.
On In A Daze, a dirge like organ synth becomes the slowly sinking refrain round which crisp 909’s stomp, while spiralling synths are looped around it all. There’s big diva vocals on So Sweet and Desire, but their usual surroundings have changed slightly. In the case of the former, everything is kept tightly wound and under pressure, with the sample being the only element given space to soar. On Desire, off kilter acid synths undulate alongside the familiar sound of classic diva house vocals, refreshing the template.
Welcome 2 My House presents a LADYMONIX at her most intriguing and playful. Even at its most subtle, her choices are excitingly strange, an embrace of Barnhus’ Swedish disposition by way of her historically loaded American house music style. The result is both familiar and beguilingly different, suggesting an exciting evolution for LADYMONIX’s approach to her sound.
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