- "The Regraded summer anthem is becoming a tradition," reads a YouTube comment underneath "Surrender," one of two tracks by Gerd Janson and Shan on the label's latest 12-inch. Even among deadly disco-house cuts like Hubie Davidson's "Sanctified" and "Final Credits," by Midland, "Surrender" is Regraded's most euphoric A-side yet. Though the track is based on a sample—Rainbow Brown's 1981 track "Till You Surrender"—"Surrender" is much more than a classic disco vocal looped over and over. There are builds, breakdowns, drum rolls and hands-in-the-air peaks, all held together by jangly percussion and kept taut by subtle filter sweeps. It's swollen with pianos, horns, strings, synth chords and vocals, and yet it never feels overstuffed. "Surrender"'s easy appeal is reflected by the range of DJs who've played it this year: Ryan Elliott, Annie Mac, Denis Sulta and Pete Tong.
"Gentle Place," by comparison, is a bit of a let-down. The bassline is mostly to blame. Its six-note strut is formulaic, and without a countermelody to bounce off, it also lacks vitality. The vocal, chopped at one point into a sing-a-long melody, and the spacey synths help make the B-side worthwhile, but there's no doubt about which track crowds will remember come the end of summer.
TracklistA Surrender
B Gentle Place