Whether you’ve been aware of it or not Black Butter Records have continually set the agenda of Dance music in the mainstream for the past couple of years. Major releases from artists like Rudimental, Duke Dumont, Kidnap Kid, and Jess Glynne, have made this previously little known imprint, a production hub of saleable artists. Newest to the roster is Sam Sure, recently selected as Annie Mac’s “next hype” for his feature on TCTS’ track “You” – a song that quickly presented his talents as a lyricist to the masses, Sure confirmed his place as ‘one-to-watch’ this year.
His emotive lyrics have quickly won over audiences at festival appearances up and down the country this summer, together with the very real signifier that he’s come through with his own completely unique sound. Sure has an interested audience and fresh angle his debut “Hunger” can only be described – in my mind – as the result of Electronica meeting the Slow Jam. But if like me, you’ve always had an aversion to the reach-and-grab boy band style epic love song, the news “Hunger” has been made over in three ways is nothing short of a blessing.
“Hunger (Shadow Child Remix)”:
Firstly there’s the Shadow Child interpretation and then we have the Jaded remix and finally Manchester’s own David ‘DVWLX’ Wilcox gets his turn on the ones and twos. Three interpretations besides the original is definitely cause for excitement, all offer different things in terms of mood and style – While Shadow Child is the established name and reliable hands for a remix, London based Jaded are fairly new to the arena with their first EP due out on October 20, and DVWLX’s Debut EP Not Another Love Song is out now on Black Butter Records.
UK based Shadow Child made his debut via Claude VonStroke’s Dirtybird Records early in 2012, mostly thanks to the EP’s lead track “String Thing” dominating Eats Everything and Claude Vonstroke’s DJ sets. This new alias for one of House music’s already known name (previously working under the name Dave Spoon) has gone down an exciting path with underground bass-led grooves plus all the quirks and depth you’d expect, and his accomplished production on this track shines at its brightest through his trademark Rude Boy bassline, weighty and deep, this is the bass lovers version for sure, sticking to what he does better than most, Shadow Child loses none of Sure’s Lyricism – instead, he compounds it with a low down club vibe.
“Hunger (Jaded Remix)”:
Production trio Jaded are the next to remix the track, although these guys are yet to become firm household names, their Deep House vision on this track is fully realized from the percussive intro and slow building vocal to the full bodied two step bassline, this one is sure to resonate in clubs across the country. It’s a shufflers’ dance off waiting to happen. With their debut EP due on the 20th of October, bass heads can look forward to hearing a lot more from these guys, as they expertly blend soulful vocal riffs with some beastly basslines, there’s sure to be a lot of exciting stuff on the way soon as they confirm their place in the main room House sphere, you can have a listen to the lead track from their forthcoming EP here.
David ‘DVWLX’ Wilcox is another relative newcomer and the final offering on this one, a remix that revels in choral piano in its intro, which falls away to reveal an uptempo groove and punching bassline, mindful not to completely eradicate the vocal of the original; instead it seeks to combine the best elements of Sure’s original with some truly creative bass inspired quirks. A different prospect from the others in that this remix has been crafted to showcase the innovation of the tracks’ producer – the end product being a three minute demonstration of his creative abilities to mix and blend in a way that will no doubt be a stand out from the others.
“Hunger (DVWLX Remix)”:
There may not be much to tell you about DVWLX and Jaded just yet but if their innovative take on this track is anything to go by, plus the support from the ever popular Black Butter, it will be no time at all before these two have plenty more for us to think about. Sam Sure’s Hunger EP is out on October 20 and you can pre-order it here.
Words by Akua Ofei // Edited by Ayo Adepoju
