Up to now, Midlands-born producer Laurence Blake has labored under the alias Citizen, swiftly making a solid name for himself crafting full-fat, retro-futurist house nuggets. Word reaches us today, though, that his forthcoming EP, BE, will find Blake reverting to a (very slightly) different moniker: Citizenn. The reason for the name change isn’t entirely clear—a press release claims it is “a nod to his maturing sound and harder-edged approach to production,” though one suspects there may be a bit more to it than that. Whatever the reasons though, the good news is that BE is vintage Citizen/Citizenn, with expansive, airy electronics rolling over soulful, classic-house vocals courtesy of SYF (of Azari & III fame).

The title track from Citizenn’s new EP is currently streaming via the player below before 2020Vision releases BE in vinyl form on February 9, with a digital release to follow on February 23 (the digital package will also include an additional bonus remix from Ralph Lawson).

1. Be
2. Be (Warehouse Dub Vocal)
3. Be (Hercules & Love Affair Remix)