Chaos In The CBD - Midnight In Peckham

Label: Rhythm Section

The Rhythm Section club night, a family affair run out of London’s Peckham Pool Club for the last year, has smoothly made the transition to record label over the last year. The team, helmed by rising star Bradley Zero, have been showcasing the jazzier side of London’s house scene, with notable releases from the likes of Henry Wu and Canada’s Local Artist. Their latest is one of the most chilled and mature yet, courtesy of Kiwi brothers Chaos In The CBD.

The pair have nimbly genre-hopped over EPs for the likes of ClekClekBoom, Hot Haus and Amadeus, and here they showcase a particularly laid-back strain of house, focusing on acoustic instruments and tasteful composition. It makes for a stylish, super-smooth listen, but the lack of variation in style means that some cuts shine brighter than others.

Observe is one of the best, an upbeat piano line clipping over a swaying, NuGroove synth line and bristling percussion. Later title cut Midnight In Peckham lets a sax drift lazily over feathery keys and twinkling synths, the soundtrack to a Film Noir coda where the detective and femme fatale drive off into a monochrome sunset.

Elsewhere the duo continue to mine the same jazzy strand of house, with Trust Is Key’s gentle melodic oscillations and the languid brass of Luxury Motivation, but the sonic homogeneity across the release means there’s little reason to play these ones out over the EP’s catchier siblings.

The kick drum has been relegated to a pulse across the four main tracks, but Chaos In The CBD join forces with club-jazz experimentalists Archie Pelago for a stomping final cut, its boom-bap beat unhurried but certainly adding a pinch of muscle to the delicate arrangement. As a whole the Midnight In Peckham EP doesn’t offer much in the way of variation, but if you dig house at its smoothest and most tasteful, there’s plenty of accomplished grooves on offer.

7/10

Read this review in context at Inverted Audio.