New York label Let’s Play House is pretty adept at finding no-nonsense party music, solid house music without airs or pretensions, built to make you move. For their latest trick, they’ve paired two LA acts, Cosmic Kids and Fingerpaint, better known until now as Tyler Blake of Classixx. LPH015, or the “Reality On The Horizon” EP, features one collab, two originals from Cosmic Kids, and Fingerpaint’s debut. Opener “Mantiega“, the joint venture, is a bona fide jam. In many ways it’s unfair kicking off the EP with this one. Built around a gorgeous Gwen Guthrie sample (one which we’re not ashamed to say we first discovered here), it oozes sunshine. Thrilling percussion, piercing horns, shades of Rhodes piano and a smattering of Wurlitzer, not to mention good-time crowd noises, it’s a vibrant holiday groover. We imagine this went off in Miami, and it’s sounding even better as spring has rolled into summer. Fingerpaint take things down a darker path with “Change Yr Mind“. Unresolved minor chords boom throughout, clashing with a startling piano riff and expansive, droning synths, its bittersweet melodies are reminiscent of Meroz’s “The Sinner” on Solid Bump from a few years back.
The EP’s only slight misstep comes in the form of Cosmic Kids’ “Higgs Boson“. It’s not without its charms – crisp percussion and impeccable production, it’s just that we’re not sold on the vocal sample, or the way it plays off the leading arpeggiated riffs. That said, we don’t doubt that it will rock many a club over the next while. In case you think these guys are only capable of fast-paced party cuts, The Kids round out the EP with “Whisper Softly“, a sultry, seductive rework of Patrice Rushen’s “Remind Me“. It distills those sun-drenched chords and a simple vocal from the middle of that lengthy ballad into a gorgeous disco slow-burner. Overall what we’re left with is a solid collection of balmy house grooves, one that will brighten up your morning commute as easily as it will get you moving on the dancefloor. And now that the sun has decided to show up, it sounds all the better.
Stream: Cosmic Kids & Fingerpaint – Reality On The Horizon EP (Let’s Play House)
Cosmic Kids & Fingerpaint’s Reality On The Horizon EP is out now on Let’s Play House.
