Having previously unearthed and showcased plenty of new school talent like Chamboche, Bonar Bradbury and A/Jus/Ted, Under The Shade turn to two hot house properties in the form of Ben Pearce and Real Connoisseur for their next release – a split EP of one original and one remix from each artist.
You probably already know the name Ben Pearce from ‘What I Might Do’, his oddly anthemic deep-house debut that dominated club floors across the world in 2012. Here he is in similar form with ‘Just Enough’ – a dark and studiously moody house cut that brews and stews for the duration with almost hymnal pads, smooth and buried deep kick drums and just the slightest traces of classicism in the repeated male vocal
clip. Light-fingered drum fills and carefully, scale riding melodies add depth and space and this one is likely to be as big as his debut.
Remixing the track is Real Connoisseur, a 20 year old from Oxford with releases on labels like Purp & Soul already under his belt. His version stands more upright with sharp and slinky percussion bringing a deep garage vibe the track. What will most standout for clubbers, though, is the mangled and spangled bassline that ripples through the track come the mid point Floor slaying stuff for sure.
And so to his original track, ‘Nobody’s Fool’, it’s an elastic and bombastic deep house cum bass music hybrid with precise bass notes patting out the rhythm and kinetic drum hits churning in its midst. A euphoric, hands in the air vocal sample bursts through a various points as the bassline bobbles along below and the production is both rich and warm, infused with a neon glow and crafted for maximum damage, you suspect.
Pearce returns the remix favour and tweaks it into a more peak time, punchy house jam with well placed vocal snippets accentuating the kick of the drums. It’s easy to see why Pearce won so many fans early on, and this EP suggests Real Connoisseur isn’t far behind him.

Ben Pearce - Just Enough (Original)

Under the shade