Bristol producer Hodge is yet another young name to rise up in the city to challenge its reputation as a dubstep haven, his allegiances firmly aligned with house music. While some of Jacob Martin's previous productions as half of Outboxxx bordered on lounge jazz inertia, his solo debut on Immerse shows a more personalized sound. Hodge shares a preference for snappy, elastic production with fellow Bristolian Kowton; both producers imbue their house with a skip that's not exactly garage but swings pleasantly nonetheless.
These are no darkroom lullabies, though. Hodge's productions exude sunshine, or at least imply it. "The Fall" is something like emaciated Balearic, bliss built from shards, snippets and half-finished samples. Luscious plucked-string chords are propped up by an ascending bassline that pushes the track forward ever-so-gently into a cloud of liquid synths. If "Fall" is all about its trancelike ascent to nirvana, "Crush" is fine with rolling around in the damp earth. Its nasty writhing bassline is backed up by slicing hi-hats and cool chords. Here Martin takes the jazz-funk influences of his Outboxx productions and moulds them into something darker yet more accessible.
Tracklist: Hodge - The Fall
A The Fall
B Crush
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