Youandewan – Thyme Capsules EP

Butter Side Up Records strides into 2021 with an essential new EP from long time label friend Youandewan. The four tracker follows his remix on BSU001 and is a spaced out house trip into the next dimension with original artwork by Sophie Doulala.

Berlin based Ewan Smith has matured into an assured sonic explorer over recent years. He heads up his own The Brane, Small Hours and Pure Shores labels, has close ties to various other cult outlets and is a core part of a cutting edge crew who explore the intersection between house, breaks, techno and electro with a real futuristic bent. This new EP was made purely on various analogue grooveboxes, and was then recorded live to cassette without going anywhere near a computer, and it shows in the nicely frayed edges and lived-in sounds throughout the EP.

Opener ‘Thyme Capsules’ is a bumpy yet seductive house groove with tropical steel drum sounds bringing the party vibes next to the turbocharged bassline. ‘Beyond My Ken’ layers up sci-fi details and more brilliantly dynamic drum programming to make for a playful workout full of otherworldly colour. Things get deep and driving on ‘Scissor Juice’ with its warm, balmy pads and old school synth leads, then finally ‘Slow Down’ Feat. Art Feynman zones you out with achingly soulful female vocals drifting in and out of the mix next to a perfectly smooth bassline. These are four hugely characterful cuts that pack plenty of punch.