Throughout 2022, NuNorthern Soul unveiled a swathe of releases under the Myths of Ibiza banner – a set of digital-only EPs featuring cover artwork by illustrator Emily McGuinness, based on her interpretations of folkloric stories from the Balearic Isles. Now the series is set for its’ belated epilogue, courtesy of North of the Island – the Balearic-minded alter-ego of long-serving Mancunian DJ/producer Neil Scott.

The Feeling Free EP, which features additional production and mixing from PBR Streetgang’s Bonar Bradberry, was originally scheduled for release last year, but major changes in Scott’s life – not least a move to Australia, where the nu-disco scene stalwart now resides – meant pushing it back until he had time to finish the tracks. It was a shrewd move, because the EP now contains some of Scott’s most magical, kaleidoscopic and atmospheric original productions to date.

Proof arrives immediately via opener ‘Sioux You’, a gorgeous mixture of stirring, melancholic synth chords (think Pet Shop Boys’ ‘West End Girls’ and you’re close), deep sub-bass, lilting lead lines, head-nodding drums and layers of Latin-tinged percussion. It’s a terrifically tactile affair that adds a shuffling, sunset-ready lens to Scott’s vibrant, nu-disco-influenced trademark sound.

It's followed by ‘I Feel’, a squelchy, slow-motion, delay-laden nod to synthesiser and drum machine-driven Balearic gems of the 1980s that first featured on NuNorthern Soul’s Summer Selections Four EP this time last year. Blessed with the boldest of synth basslines, authentic drum machine percussion and effects aplenty, it’s an impressive slab of nostalgic retro-futurism.

Scott reaches for glossy, near huggable FM synth melodies on the gorgeous ‘System Junk’, slowly and subtly building up a loved-up groove laden with intergalactic electronics, head-nodding drums, shimmering riffs and a yearning, rising and falling bassline. Even better is astonishing closing cut ‘Tired Sunrise’, a slowly unfurling dusk soundscape rich in clicking drums, yawning pads, echoing effects, blissful synth sounds and the most impeccable of piano solos. It feels like a future Balearic classic.

Emily McGuinness’s cover artwork for the release depicts Hierbas Ibicencas, the “famous spirit of Ibiza” made of local herbs. Hierbas Ibicencas can trace its roots back to monks who lived on Ibiza in the Middle Ages. They grew wild herbs and once preserve them in alcohol, with the resulting liquid being used as a medicinal remedy. According to tradition, Hiberas Ibicencas can only be made with an odd number of herbs – which should preferably be gathered on the morning after a full moon, before the day of San Juan, to guarantee good luck and “add some extra magic to the potion”.

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North of the Island - Feeling Free EP [NUNS051D] SAMPLER

4 NOTI - Tired Sunrise SAMPLER

3 NOTI - Sysytem Junk SAMPLER

2 NOTI - I Feel SAMPLER

1 NOTI - Sioux You SAMPLER

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North of the Island - Feeling Free EP [NUNS051D] SAMPLER

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