First off, deep chords ride swinging bass from Sheffield to Detroit and back on that would be alright. Title track the man echoes classic 90’s hip hop in a heavy mid-tempo house chugger while alaf on the flip gives you 4/4 jazz styling’s laced with Pete’s melancholic vocals. To finish of this debut, dreamin blurs genres in a piece that deep and soulful house aficionados should appreciate in equal measure.

Who is thatmanmonkz? Scott ‘thatmanmonkz’ Moncrieff is a much-hyped DJ who has shared the decks with heavyweights Carl Craig, Grandmaster Flash, Phil Asher, Recloose and Roots Manuva among others. Sharing a flat with Arctic Monkeys and M.I.A producer Ross Orton led to a crash course in production techniques and analogue synths, which inspired him to join forces with Toddla T (Radio 1) to form Small Arms Fiya.

Small Arms Fiya created numerous releases and remixes over their 3 year collaboration which included Jersey Street, Nubian Minds, Roots Manuva, Domu, Mark Rae, The Elektrons and Lo Tek Hi Fi. Their debut EP with Pete Simpson, and follow up with Ayah Marar was received with impressive acclaim from Benji B, Ross Allen and more. Small Arms Fiya re-launched in 2011 after a hiatus which ‘monkz used to experiment with new musical directions. Since then he has been busy producing, arranging, remixing and DJing – headlining Sheffield’s infamous Kabal Warehouse Party, Cargo, and playing alongside Fatlip from The Pharcyde, Hackman, and Martelo.

With this debut solo release, ‘The Man’ EP forthcoming on Tone Control Music, imminent 12’s from his ‘S & M’ project with Daniel Swain, and various remix/production duties, expect big things from thatmanmonkz!