Gudu Records label continues a 2023 for the books with Dream Universe, a new four-track EP by Italian duo Hiver. Based in Milan, Giuseppe Albrizio and Sergio Caio have spent the last decade honing a very special take on electro and machine funk, driven by the duo’s trademark basslines, glossy strings that drip with emotion and an overall utopian nature. On Dream Universe, a “tribute to early ‘90s house and trance”, built around trance elements, acid bass and Detroit-inspired rhythms made on iconic synthesizers like the Alpha Juno, Juno 106 and the Roland 303, 909 and D-550, they pack more energy and emotion into their music than ever before, from the high-emotional vocal that defines the EP’s title track, to the raw bass hits that drive ‘Lodash’. At this point, Hiver’s sound is so distinctive that you know one of their tracks the minute you hear it, but Dream Universe feels like the high water mark of their work to date; a duo in complete control of their craft[info sheet from distr.]