Rating: NNNN
Since 2008, Pursuit Grooves (Vanese Smith) has put out a range of releases that show the producer taking her cues from the more meditative and sensual side of deep house, techno and the beat scene. As the name says, her sonic trademark has always been the search for a groove.
Smith’s new full-length for her own What Rules label feels like the result of all that experimenting. Predominantly uptempo and not confined to any specific sub-genre, Sensory Sequence is anchored by an obsession with the danceable tilt and drum line snares of UK funky (Feeling Tactile, Code Nexion) as well as warped, sensory bass (Body Healthy). She sets up repetitive, mechanistic rhythms like the staccato pad work on Great Light Regions, then deploys glowering synth lines to add warmth and sensuality that fill in the hollows.
But what makes Smith’s work stand out is her command of eclectic sounds – mellow chimes, the hollow slap and thud of a tabla, a squelchy 303 melody, soulful vocal samples – that dip purposefully in and out of her grooves.
Top track: Code Nexion
