Aniara Sweden Vinyl & CDs

Review: Aniara is a label that ostensibly deals in deep house but you will never hear a standard tune on any of their releases. There is always an innovative sense of melody or intriguing balance between drive and emotion in everything they put out. Next to prove that point is Chefone with Storm. The title track opens up with a dubbed-out cut that is backed by the celestial glow of an angelic pad. Glistening shards of light also puncture the groove to make for something delightfully unusual. 'Hondo' takes up the whole of the flip with a heavy but mid-tempo deep house rhythm embellished with wispy pads and flickering static.

Review: Aniara's output has always been brilliantly designed for club deployment but could never really be considered as mere tools. The artists who appear on the Swedish imprint have a cultured sound and a knack for crafting maximum impact from minimal elements. Enter Mattias El Masouri who does just that with the sublime 'Time Dilation In Ultraviolet'. It's a hypnotic deep house cut with real drive that's down to the deft broken kick drum patterns, pulsing synth and heady pads that swirl above. 'Inre Dimension' is a 13-minute plus sonic daydream with paddy drums, drumming pads and perfectly airy hi-hats that anchor you in the heart and now as your mind wanders.