The Lovers Night

Bred and based in Birmingham, England, Subb-an has exploded on to the world of house music with releases on Bpitch, Crosstown Rebels, Trapez, and other like-minded labels. The newcomer flaunts a novel, almost aggressively tech-y sound that’s rife with classic house signifiers and a veteran producer’s mastery of ebb and flow. For his debut release on Spectral Sound, Subb-an offers the dark, devastating single “The Lovers Night” features vocal incantations from Beckford which drift through eight-plus minutes of sharp, propulsive tech-house. Potent, melodic synth lines slice through a miasma of echo-drenched atmosphere on that and the Dub Version, but the star of the show is the unique quality of “The Lovers Night”—like some of the best drum ‘n bass of yore—of perfect synergy between uptempo percussion and a languorous, enveloping low-end, making BPMs an afterthought.