Etherwood & Grace Barton - Haven

The moment Haven wins me over is the last chorus, where the whole track lifts a key and Grace Barton’s vocal opens all the way up. Etherwood has been the softest, most melodic corner of the Hospital Records roster for years, and Haven is him deep in his comfort zone, which in his case is a very good place to be. This is liquid drum and bass at its prettiest: rolling, unhurried drums, a bassline more felt than heard, and Barton’s voice sitting on top like sun through a window. It could easily tip into greeting-card territory and mostly doesn’t, because there’s an actual melancholy threaded through the melody that keeps it from being pure sugar. The drums are the secret; they’ve got a live, brushed quality that gives the whole thing a human pulse under all the prettiness. I put this on at the end of a long day and felt my shoulders drop about an inch. That’s a physical response, not a critical one, and it’s the one I trust most. Etherwood makes music for the comedown, the drive home, the moment after the moment, and Haven is a lovely addition to that pile. Some of the best DnB isn’t about the drop at all.

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