After 3 entries in previous House of (S)Punk compilations showcasing the wide range of her production style of warm playful techno, Belarusian queer artist Lola Kay (she/her) invites us deeper into her fast-paced bouncy hopeful dreamy trance-infused hard groove with her debut EP XTASY DANCE PROJECT.
Truly “Second Summer of Love” in spirit, 90’s UK trance in sound inspiration, her EP is a romantic manifesto centering mindful joy and community bonding as a tool for queer liberation. With this EP and her DJ-sets as a staple of the Barcelona scene, she is creating the soundtrack for OUR Third Summer of Love: the pandemic-born underground queer rave renaissance under the infinite Barcelona sun.
Opening up the EP, ‘Living Breathing Xtasy’ encapsulates this ecstatic empowering feeling. From the sample “let’s make this our legacy, living breathing ecstasy” used as a mantra for celebration of collective solace, to a pumping popcorn bass and dreamy pads, the tracks speaks to your body as a whole : the floatiness of the head and unstoppable stomping of the feet.
Following, ‘Dancefloor is Home’ is about letting go and this moment you’re ready to shake yourself out of the rut, an invitation to forget it all, surrounded, cared, empowered, celebrated by your friends in a joyful carefree night out, whose tender memories float in your chest for weeks after. Makina-reminiscent high energy groove carry an unapologetically gooey melody for those oversweet moments.
“To be, or not to be?” we all know that question and the pandemic has made this universal existential leap of faith a survival method to the historic hardship. With ‘Crossroads’, fuelled by melancholic pads, a heady melody and a built-in tension through the dreamscape, Lola Kay states that forging ahead is the only way through.
Closing the EP is ‘Pure Emotion’: built on a vocal sample from the BBC documentary on 90’s UK raves “E for Ecstasy”, the track is driven by a round groove galloping through this classic Hard House feel.
The Xtasy Dance Project EP, is due to be released April 20th, 2023:
https://houseofspunk.bandcamp.com/album/lola-kay-xtasy-dance-project-ep
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