Franck Roger & Mandel Turner - Through The Motions

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  • Franck Roger's Real Tone label has long been delivering streamlined deep house, where the genius lies in well-executed simplicity rather than a streak of ambition (see Maya Jane Coles' "What They Say"). His own productions aren't all that different, and though RA's Nick Connellan came down on his last collaboration with Mandel Turner for just that reason, on his newest, the familiarity works mostly in its favour. "Through the Motions" indeed has a bit of a methodical, box-ticking dimension, but it's all wrapped up in a package so glossy that any criticism you might throw at it would just slide off the slick surface. With its chest-beating yet subtle riff, just-so weightless drums and effortlessly smooth vocal (not to mention the hilarious spoken word monologue), it's the kind of thing you'd imagine soundtracking an early morning house session. A little too standard to get terribly excited about, it's nevertheless a track that could be a highlight of a set if placed in the right context. Here it comes in both a vocal and a dub version, and while Turner's performance is your standard deep house crooner, the dub shows off Roger's inimitable ear for hooks, particularly the slip-sliding chords that wreath the verses.
  • Tracklist
      A Through The Motions (Vox) B Through The Motions (Dub)
RA