Review: Belly - Water

Mysterious Manchester artist Belly released two cracking all be it sporadic releases back in 2014 which were difficult to pigeon hole from genre perspective (but that’s good a good thing right) but this February sees an EP that will get a lot of people talking when they hear it.

Previous Belly tracks have been retouched by the likes of Timothy J Fairplay and Robi Insinna and “Water” gets equally big remix action from Brassica, Thinnen & Gummerson.

A1) Water
Brooding vocals and deliciously dark breaks slam into your ears after the haunting atmospherics drift and ebb away, “Water” explores a similar sound as in previous Belly releases, but the constant discovery of subtle synths and sounds with each play through is staggering. Fans of Moderat will absolutely lap this up (which I consider no bad thing).
 
A2) Water (Brassica remix)
Brassica or Michael Anthony Wright to his friends is first up with his interpretation of “Water”. It’s a full on slice of acidic niceness, heavy drums interspersed with a simple but highly effective melody woven with a crescendo of tweaks and stabs  fill your ears with delight…and that’s just for starters people.  As the track advances lower bass tones join the party and Brassica throws in a breakbeat vibe to completely fuck up the dancefloor.
 
B1) Water (Thinnen remix)
Macclesfield’s Thinnen maintains a similar vibe to the original but throws down some epic drums which raise the temperature levels while sympathetically using the original vocals.
 
B2) Water (Gummerson Rebel remix)
Gummerson electrifies the vocal for his remix before hitting us with a frantic electro style break which is flecked with heavy techno inspired sweeps and keys. It’s wonderfully brutal in its execution and delays upon delays fill your head before the tone levels out and you’re taken on an amazing sonic journey.  
 
On a personal level I just hope that Belly ups his output over this year because if this is anything to go by the lads got the minerals and I really want to hear more of his music.
 
Do yourself a favour and add him to your alerts lists now people.
 
10/10
 
Michael Prestage