- Areal's increasingly more vital and interesting house-orientated sublabel IRR continues its run of solid singles with this, the second EP on the young imprint from Irish producer John Daly. The Galway native picks up largely where his first release left off: "Aurora" is spacey house at a beatdown pace. The thick synths lure you into their web of repetition before lurching you into a new pattern every few minutes or so while the beat sits back with a relaxed smile on its face. It even leaves for a bit, but you wouldn't exactly call what happens a breakdown. The tempo is too slow, the melody too compelling.
The same goes for "Equinox," despite being more beat-driven than its predecessor. A hint of funk surrounds the bassline, but the star of the show is clearly the melody that wanders around. Aside from Daly's obvious melodic talent, the secret here is the unhurried feeling of both tunes. They each hover around 120 BPM, but seem slower due to the gossamer synths. And while they're not tracks that will have you rushing up to the booth, they're the crucial sort of tune that every DJ desires: Set builders that have enough personality to keep the average punter on the floor, and the music geek trainspotters happy.
Tracklist A Aurora
B Equinox