There’s a hand-drum loop running under the whole of Another Tomorrow that sounds like it was recorded in a courtyard, and it’s the best decision on the track. Melé has spent years mining the overlap between UK house and West African and Latin rhythms, and this is him in a sunnier, looser mood than his clubbier stuff. The four-on-the-floor kick is almost an afterthought, there to keep time while the percussion does the real dancing around it. A chopped vocal repeats a single phrase about tomorrow until it stops meaning anything and just becomes rhythm, which is the oldest house trick there is and still works. The bassline is warm and round and happy to sit on two notes all night. It’s daytime house, the sound of a rooftop party that started too early and has no intention of stopping, drinks going warm in the sun. Defected has a type and Melé is very good at delivering it, but this has enough of his own fingerprints on it to never feel like label product. I put it on and immediately resented being indoors.
Melé is no stranger to this blog. Last time: Melé & RIA - Ay Sí (Extended Mix)