Artist: Saytek
Title: 5 Years On EP
Label: Ubermax Records
Cat No: UBX002
Release: 29/09/2014
Genre: Tech House
Joseph Keevill aka Saytek has really been setting dance floors alight over the last few years. Rising to the top of the electronic music pile through a combination of a string of exceptionally well produced releases, and a slew of heavily praised live performances (he doesn’t DJ), he’s carved out a successful career as one of Dance music’s most promising talents over the last 10 years.
His new EP on Ubermax is testament to the lad’s dexterity, with three fresh cuts of thumping Tech House. Starting things off with ‘The Place’, Saytek piles straight in with full-bodied kicks and a rolling bassline. If you’re after ‘subtle’, head elsewhere this is peak-time floor-fodder for the music connoisseur. From here, acidic loops build and subside alongside the luscious background chords, whilst a reverbed vox snippet is strategically placed over the breakdown. As the beats gate crash their way back in, the individual elements converge on each other and the track commands the crowd to move. It’s an energetic opener that’s warm and bold in equal measure.
Following this up with ‘Addictive Personality’, Saytek constructs a tribal-infused percussion groove to compliment the kick drums, and then drives it home with an aggressive reverberating bassline. The chord progression works beautifully with the loops that are subsequently introduced throughout, and the end result is a deliciously infectious House groover that’s undoubtedly my pick of the bunch.
Rounding off the EP, we have ‘5 Years On’, the title-track of the release. This is an absolute beast of a track. The punchy beat/bassline combo is relentless, and whilst Saytek gets stuck into his synth jam, the vocal stabs give the track piles of atmospherics that sound fantastic. As a whole, the track will find favour amongst those hazy 5am lights-out moments as the smoke machines fill the room, and as an uncompromising Tech-House EP closer, it’s as good as you’re likely to hear this year. Awesome stuff all round from a man who is consistently right on the money with his music.
