Texas-based label Warm Communications returns after FD’s eclectic early-2012 release and Sun & Bass favourite, ‘Blue Sky Research’ / ‘Stripped’, bringing Astrophonica’s pioneering sound to the table with a 12” of assured quality from label boss Fracture.

Fracture’s Lately revise eases the listener into its vibes with a funky chord progression and Ella Jones’ sultry original vocal work. The track maintains its light-hearted mood until dispersed as it submits to a confident two-step over a meandering bassline, a bounce with a similar swagger to Commix’s Lunar Bass VIP. Layered with unprocessed strobe synths and echoing snares, Lately remains at once both light and brooding, appealing and unsympathetic; an unembellished and subtle piece.

Tunnel Track is Lately’s unforgiving flip, dropping any false pretence of radiance the A side may have suggested. A reverb-laden opening with a misleading filtered arrangement slowly slides into a simple kick-snare dominated by undulating lows and tightly-processed mids. Evolving into a stepper’s dream with some carefully placed hi-hats, Tunnel Track is a shining light for the minimal new-school defined by contemporaries such as Enei and Need For Mirrors. A release with a fine-tuned simplicity that proves Fracture and Astrophonica’s commitment to versatility and secured groove; Warm Communications sure provides a welcome home to a quality-control focussed collective.

Out May 14th on vinyl and digital.

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