There’s something really wonderful about two brothers working together to make music. San Francisco’s Roche (a.k.a. Ben Winans) is an artist we’ve featured multiple times on XLR8R, but his big brother Bret (a.k.a. CB Radio) makes quality beats of his own out in Brooklyn. Why it took this long for the Winans boys (pictured above, sometime in the ’90s) to properly collaborate remains a mystery, but “Rayne,” created under the moniker Samuel Max, is a wonderful start. A house tune of the most relaxed variety, the song skates along mellow, clap-punctuated percussion while cooly rolling out breezy synth melodies and a plucky bassline. Yes, it’s a little Balearic and more than a little retro, but it’s all tastefully done and thoroughly enjoyable. Mama Winans should be proud.

Rayne