Available on: forthcoming RVNG Intl. 12″

In his review of last year’s Touched EP for Merok, FACT’s Chris Powers remarked on the balance Blondes achieve between the sustained groove of the best house music, and the off-the-cuff bounce of the best hip-hop.

On ‘Lover’, he first of a pair of tracks that introduce a full-length Blondes project for the fantastic RVNG Intl. label (full spec: three 12”s, followed by a CD that combines the singles and more), they lean more towards the former. Those snapping drums are still hip-hop at heart, but positioned in prime position to glide straight through the centre of one of the dreamiest dancefloors you’re likely to hear this year, a colourful mix with plenty of room for the highs giving the track an starlit, astral feel.

‘Hater’ is even more straight, slipping in and out of 4/4 drums, and washed in the sort of glistening blues that made Oni Ahyun’s OAR003 so irresistible. This year’s ‘Cheaters’? Not quite, but not too far off either.

Anna Russell