Sash! – Mysterious Times / It’s My Life

Review: By the late 90s, Sash! had perfected the art of making a club track feel both enormous and oddly polite, and 'Mysterious Times' might be the peak of the German's skill. It trundles in on a loop that refuses to hurry, like it knows you'll give in eventually. Tina Cousins arrives with a vocal that sounds permanently on the verge of a meaningful revelation, repeating lines until they stop being lyrics and start acting like extra synth parts. The build is almost comically restrained - no sudden lurches, just filters inching upward while the groove keeps smiling. It's dance music for people who want transcendence without spilling their drink, patient to the point of cheek and confident it doesn't need to prove anything.