The label at hand, ASL Singles Club, seemed to be onto something from the start with its first single in the final quarter of last year, and has since justified any sense of nascency we’ve felt the label displayed from it. Trailing well-documented singles from Nick Wisdom, Autem, Rook Milo and Heartbeat(s) and 8prn—the latter couple who helm the Vancouver label alongside Devin Cheffers— it’s Brooklyn producer/dj and Broke City resident Sleepyhead who most recently signed his ‘Untitled’ EP to ASL, getting the 2014 ball rolling for both himself and the host party. Billed by ASL as “quintessential house tunes,” ‘Untitled’ is just that: a collection of frill- less, straight-ahead grooves. The EP as a whole typifies an ethos (that sometimes extends to even clothing) the label has amassed, and also that of New York’s underground circuit—it being generally frill-less but at the same time managing to conjure good musical conviction and dexterity with stuff that’s always worked.

Sleepyhead starts ‘Untitled’ with the most UK-informed number on the project with “SayU <3 Me”, which, if it’s any reason for it, features production aid from CZ. The soulfulR&B chops and playful lead line foretell of a catchy, mobilizing release, which the EPdefinitely is. But the producer’s formula changes for other tracks, if only marginally, toconvey different emotions that call for different circumstances. The foremost examplewould probably be “What’s Inside”, in which Sleepyhead sounds less distanced fromhis days on Embassy or Symbols, beckoning the late night or early morning with anaffirming diva refrain, gravitating pads and low-slung bass. Combinations like these areobviously nothing we haven’t heard before, but they form Sleepyhead’s calling card andit’s awesome when he comes through.

Stream: Sleepyhead – Untitiled (ASL Singles Club)

Words by Michael Scala

Cop ‘Untitled’ for $4.99 on Bandcamp.