Launching into summer with the swirl of a bundle Pakistani kites come two new 12” releases of ARSENAL - not Arsène Wenger’s troupe of Gunners but Belgium’s finest purveyors of multicoloured, versatile worldly pop. First up was ESTUPENDO, with mixes from Gui Borrato, Kid Gloves and Compuphonic.

Second ARSENAL release in line is their album’s title track LOTUK. Singer-songwriter Shawn Smith (him of Seattle veterans Brad and Satchel) guests on this throughout shimmering tune, with a pulsating Kim Deal-like bass line, trancelike backing vocals and a deliciously naïve synthesizer loop that will keep you humming all day long.

Again, it comes action packed with a trio of quality remixes: Brooklyn crew RUNAWAY - affiliated with quality labels such as DFA, Rekids and I’m A Cliché – tap into their no-wave, disco-not-disco influences, slowing down Smith’s vocals to a distant sinister growl, adding synthetic piano-house stabs and a few rave sirens for a brooding Lost In Desire remix that wouldn’t be out of place in a Chicago darkroom. Sasha Crnobrnja of fellow NYC hipsters IN FLAGRANTI takes the opposite approach, speeding up the vocal over heavy Moroderesque arpeggios, a cluster of beats from a battered Roland and lots of cowbell action. Last but not least, hot young Belgium DJs/producers SOUND OF STEREO (good mates with Italian masters of fidget The Bloody Beetroots, apparently..) deliver a kuduro rave-inspired take, twisting the synth loop and dreamy background voices into a mental ‘Close Encounters for the Jilted Generation’-jacket, complete with old school funk breaks and dramatic, distorted build ups. Fans of Switch and Crookers, take notice!