sunlightsquare s first single of 2017, oyelo, is a mixture of jazz, cuban and house music in its most authentic form. starting with moody latin-jazz piano and sun-drenched live percussion played by master percussionist giovanni imparato, the track is driven by the classic house beat of the tr-909 - the legendary 1980 s drum machine. ronnie scott s resident cuban singer rene alvarez delivers the impassioned vocals, followed by the main man claudio passavanti s heated montuno piano riffs, which combine seamlessly to create a blissful, dance-floor experience. it s a perfect marriage of organic grooves, lush beats and soulful vocals, joining the dots between different generations of latin dance music.
for the b side, london based, japanese producer kay suzuki transformed the original track into his signature psychedelic journey in 2 parts. his by the sea mix takes you to the havana beach with its synthesiser generated waves & seagulls right from the intro. the stripped-down beats and vocals are smoothly laid out with warm analogue synth textures, giving more space to claudio s tasteful latin-jazz keyboard improvisations. in contrast, the drum dub goes to the opposite side of the spectrum, all the musical elements have been removed, focusing solely on the live percussion and the raw tr-909 beat, all dubbed out with tape delays for a classic cosmic dub treatment.
