Hanna

Review: Warren Harris did a sterling job on his first outing for Perpetual Rhythms as Hanna, and he's back for round two. Things are just as deep as you would hope and expect, with Harris' unique take on the Detroit house formula present and correct on the cleverly executed "Lake Shore Dr." "Parallel" finds him exploring his penchant for snagged, off-kilter rhythms matched with deep house delicacy, and "Gold Coast" takes things into lounge territory without ever sounding insipid. Therein lies the magic of Hanna, and beautiful experiment "Khords 1" is on hand to finish the EP off as a statement of just how special and unique Harris' music is.

Review: Chicago's Perpetual Rhythms label scores a coup in welcoming the inimitable Warren Harris to present what appears to be three separate installments of his honey coated house abstractions. "Poom" wastes no time in confirming that Harris' work as Hanna is unrivalled for off-the-wall rhythmic constructions that truly channel the freedom of jazz into the house stratosphere. "Bucktown" is no slouch in this regard either, while the swirling smoothness of the synths makes the spiky drum science taste all the sweeter. "Wicker Park" seems to take some influence from the West London broken beat scene, and then "Nuance" swoops in with yet more bruk action and some truly space age melodic content that marks this out as one of Hanna's strongest efforts in recent times.

Review: Warren Harris continues to enjoy his most prolific year since the 90s with another immaculate, velvet groove EP on Return To Fade (who gave us his perennial "Caught In The Mxyzptik" EP last year) "In The Morning" is a sumptuous sunrise affair that's powered by a subtle vocal layering over a beat so smooth you barely notice it. "Psalms" offers wisdom beyond its six minutes with yearning jazz chords and soaring Claussellian pads while "Perhaps" moves closer to the dancefloor with a precision balance of weight and introspection. Remix wise Earl Jeffers joins the fray with a Balearic bomb; all rim shots and wizardry, drop this and everyone will get down to shake; there's no 'perhaps' about it.

Review: Jazz-wise deep house and downtempo producer Hanna has a string of fine albums to his name stretching back to the tail end of the '90s. Bless, though, is his first full-length since 2008, and sees the Cleveland, Ohio man transfer to Theo Parrish's legendary Sound Signature imprint. Each of the album's ten tracks comes dripping in hazy, late night soul, as Hanna smoothly shuffles between hazy nu-jazz explorations and various strains of sensual deep house. For the DJs there are plenty of floor-friendly moments, while the inclusion of a string of groovier downtempo workouts should please the home listening posse.

Review: Shall Not Fade welcome a genuine house pillar; Warren Harris AKA Hanna. His first release in quite some time, he gently reminds us of his influence with four beautiful, unhurried soul-laced gems. "Knowing" is a day dreamer, all flutes, fretless bass, free and easy while "Love & Death" takes us deep inside the synths on a bed of loosely arranged percussion. Flip for the softly broken shuffles and twinkles of "Chasing The Sunset" and the left-sided stuttering-beat funk jam "Sway Life". Let's pray we don't have to wait so long for the next Hanna dispatch.