Obey City - Champagne Sounds

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  • "Reflect Effect" is the name of the first track on Obey City's debut LuckyMe EP, but it pretty much sums up the whole thing. He has all the wide-eyed wonder of his label mates, but instead of soaring melodies and glorious climaxes, Sam Obey prefers to make space for his chrome-plated sounds. The Brooklyn producer, who is the newest addition to the sterling LuckyMe roster, fits somewhere in the gulf between Rustie and S-Type. Champagne Sounds is glossy like the most overblown '80s pop, but it's also sharper, more futuristic—like the Minneapolis sound re-imagined with the technology of 2013. As a result, there's something very retro about Champagne Sounds, but not in a clichéd way. (Well, maybe the slap bass is a bit much.) It's more like the natural influence of someone who grew up listening to old funk and hip-hop records. The EP feels very present—Obey's drums are practically in the room with you. They go well with the stainless steel synths on "Quantum Phase," where every percussive hit is a punch through the air, and they ground the otherwise floaty R&B jam "Fallin' (U Know)." The drums are also unpredictable, as Obey fleshes his beat tunes into full-fledged songs. "Tell Her" is a love saga floating between lighter-than-air elation and grotty tension, and "Uptown Pumps" is like a sugar-high with a tumbling hip-hop beat. Nailing the tension between club indulgence and pithy songcraft, Champagne Sounds shows a promising new artist crafting delightfully shiny tracks out of deceptively complex ideas.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Reflect Effect A2 Quantum Phase A3 Tell Her B1 Uptown Pumps B2 Cyber Stream B3 Fallin
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