Watergate’s new resident and agency signing Braunbeck steps up for his label debut. Braunbeck’s punchy grooves and tender melodies have been sound-tracking Watergate since 2017 when the Stuttgart native made an unassuming Wednesday night debut at the O*RS label event in March that year. Since then, the artist has built fans and cred in equal measures, playing regularly for WG, playing Circoloco in Ibiza and launching the fledgling Sol Eterno imprint. His maiden outing for Watergate’s home label epitomises his natural talent. ‘Samsa’ pairs him with Berlinbased, Australian DJ and producer Eluize, who supplies a searching vox over twirling layers of melody and sparse percussion. Jonathan Kaspar follows with a stunning adaption of ‘Samsa’ made for misty-eyed rave mornings. ‘De Trum’ is an effective dancefloor tool, built around a metallic drum-line. The EP rounds out with ‘Blocklife’, which distills all of Braunbeck’s sonic building blocks into one stirring finale.[info sheet from distr.]