Breach and Midland “101” b/w “Somewhere”
There may only be a pair of releases in its catalog so far, but Ben […]
There may only be a pair of releases in its catalog so far, but Ben Westbeech’s fledgling Naked Naked label seems to have already landed on a simple, but winning, formula: just keep putting out more music from Westbeech himself. For the imprint’s second outing, the producer has once again taken up his Breach moniker, this time around enlisting Midland to help put together another offering of powerful, bass-flavored rollers.
As to be expected from a collaboration between such notable names, these tunes are nearly flawless from a production standpoint. Breach’s talent for crafting solid rhythmic structures and thick, robust low end holds down the bottom of the spectrum, while Midland’s penchant for ghostly pads and lush tones does an expert job of filling in the rest. To distinguish each tune as an a-side or b-side cut is a bit disingenuous here, as the songs are equally strong and largely affixed on the same objective—taking shape as atmosphere-touched, dancefloor-aimed bass music. The opening “101” relies on more machine-like grooves to get this done, lacing the weighted house beat with a slowly modulating string of chorded, almost percussive stabs. Its counterpart, “Somewhere,” implements more swirling elements. A single-line arp and a subdued chord grow inside vast reverbs as the skeleton beat builds for the first 90 seconds. Eventually, the arp and reverbs are stripped away, leaving the now gigantic beat to take the lead as Breach and Midland lay down a classically alluring bassline.
It’s not a surprise that, when combined, these two artists really don’t miss. Westbeech’s Breach project may have largely moved on from the sound palette that yielded 2010’s massive “Fatherless,” but his more recent lean towards the deeper end of bass-infused house music—which he also showcased on the “You Won’t Find Love Again” single—has proven him to be more than capable in this stylistic realm. Of course, adding Midland o the mix is a wonderful bonus and the results really speak for themselves. We can only hope the collaboration won’t be limited to this single alone.