Doc Daneeka & Abigail Wyles – Tobyjug

Label: Ten Thousand Yen

Swansea-born Doc Daneeka threw up a bit of a curveball with his last LP, They!Live, released with Benjamin Damage in January on 50Weapons. Toning down his big drums and Tropical / Funky stylings, the album was a gorgeous mixture of downbeat Electronic compositions and sleek dance tracks. The undoubted highlights of They!Live definitely came in the form of the pair’s collaborations with vocalist Abigail Wyles, whose soulful voice was warped in No One and immersed in warm ambient fuzz in the gorgeous Halo.

Tobyjug

Here Daneeka and Wyles continue their collaboration, in the semi-unexpected form of a soul ballad for the Electronic age. Although surprising, Tobyjug is an absolute triumph, Daneeka’s spare production tastefully complimenting Wyles’ emotive vocals and letting them soar. It’s a restrained affair, starting with pared-down bumps and clicks accompanying dusty piano chords, a confident move by Daneeka to let Wyles’ voice alone provide the song’s power and momentum. As her performance becomes stronger, the beats pick up and become more restless under their anaesthetised glaze, at every stage matching her intensity with constraint and skill. A low-key synth melody emerges to usher the song out and it stands alone; unique and moving, a tearjerker for the kids fed on 140BPM.

Tobyjug (Lando Kal Remix)

The flipside is an entirely different story. Daneeka made a wise move in leaving the remix duties to always-strong, always-strange producer Lando Kal, who really takes the tune into his own hands. What starts out as a subtle Techno number soon transforms into Kal’s trademark set of patchwork textures and samples, anchored by a lilting bassline and tight vocal clips. It’s almost unrecognisable from the original but a strong track in its own right, adding a real Dance drive to the release. This is a meticulously thought-out release, from the fantastic title track to the great choice of remixers, and if it’s the beginning of a long-standing collaboration, I can’t wait to see what comes next.

8/10