After five years throwing successful parties in London and further afield, the You Are We brand is set to inaugurate its record label late November with a six-track various artists package entitled ‘You Are We Vol.1’.
You Are We is the new label run by Wildkats (Scott Dickie & Stuart Sandeman) and Ashley Wild, derived from and named after the leading London underground house and techno night. The last 5 years have seen the brand host events across the capital and even take the associates to fabric London and further afield to Glastonbury, Space Ibiza and Burning Man. Already close friends and studio partners the trio have launched the label to provide a platform for releasing their own music, associates of the events and artists who’ve inspired their sound over the years.
Kicking things off is ‘Imagine Us’ coming courtesy of You Are We co-founder’s Wildkats, seeing the duo offer up their signature hypnotic and melodious production style with wandering arpeggios and menacing low-end tones. Alexis Raphael’s ‘Your Metal Head’ follows, taking things in a more stripped-back direction, laying the focus on expansive percussive elements and ghostly pad lines alongside mesmeric spoken word vocal licks.
Ashley Wild’s ‘Summer In My Soul’ is up next, bringing a more up-tempo, energetic production style to the table with crunchy 909 rhythms, a chuggy square wave bass hook and alluring French vocal licks. Kreature’s ‘Pluvial’ retains a similar aesthetic with the rhythmic aspects employing gritty drum sounds, though implements a more frenzied feel with the melodic elements, employing squelching acidic bass tones and fluttering pad lines.
The package is then rounded off with two more original cuts, the first of which comes from Johnny Mikes ft. Michael B who turns in ‘Kick Off Your Shoes’, a rugged analogue workout led by outboard synth keys, swinging drum lines and B’s charming vocal styling’s. Borrowed Time then closes with ‘Thinking Out Loud’, putting things on a darker tip to the preceding cuts, these newcomers provide us with murky textures, growling bass tones and distorted percussion to close things brilliantly.
The ‘You Are We Vol.1’ various artists package is out on 24th November 2014.
