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EP review: Rights 'The Meaning'

Rights blend upbeat ambience and trap-inspired dancefloor breakdowns to create an EP ahead of its time.

Artist: Rights
EP: The Meaning
Label: Infinite Machine
Release date: 23/02/15

'The Meaning' is the debut release from Rights, a collaborative project between Hotflush mainstay Braille - one half of Sepalcure - and Seafloor, a singer/producer/drummer and Brooklynite. The EP is out on Infinite Machine, an exciting Montreal-based label specialising in the more interesting sides of bass, techno, house and electronica.

From the very first piano notes of opener Cold in the B, 'The Meaning' is an attention-grabber. It's summery and upbeat vibes make it an effortlessly appealing listen, and yet it's far from a bland, one-sided pop-house piece. Rights deftly thread elements of garage, bass, ambient, electronica and even RnB through distinctive rhythmic patterns to create a multifaceted kind of feelgood. Distorted, choppy vocal samples play an important part throughout, from the underwater diva of I Believe to the sped-up garage style samples of Can't Forget and Understand the Meaning. New Yorker Photay puts in a solid remix of Can't Forget, transforming it into a twisted 2-step for the forward-thinking dancefloor, but On the Phone is a standout: a lighter house top line is transformed by floor shakingly heavy wubbiness, disguising the explicit nature of the deep, distorted vocal.

Rights have taken some of the typically US dance sounds of the moment - upbeat ambience and trap-inspired dancefloor breakdowns - and blended them to create something ahead of its time that deserves multiple listens.

WORDS | Miriam Johnson


Tracklist:

01. Cold In The B
02. Heartbeat
03. I Believe
04. On The Phone
05. Can't Forget
06. Understand The Meanin
07. Can't Forget (Photay Remix)


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