Fantastic Man – A Little Bit More

Review: Berlin-based Fantastic Man's recent output has felt like it's been edging somewhere more expansive, brushing up against trance's wider gestures before pulling back at the last moment. This new release on Axis of People suggests a slight recalibration as pares things down, sidestepping the inflated peaks that have crept into parts of the scene, and returns to something more physically tied to the mechanics of house. The opening pair, 'A Little Bit More' and 'Be There', settle into a warm, circulating groove, chords rising in soft swells that never quite crest, vocal fragments slipping through the mix like partial transmissions. 'Inhibition' firms things up, drums landing with more insistence. By the time 'Prophecy' arrives, the structure tilts again, stepping into a dubbed-out broken-beat pattern that feels slightly misaligned, as if the grid has shifted underfoot.