Manuel Darquart Turbo Shady EP

Originally from Auckland, NZ and now London based Louis Anderson-Rich, known amongst the dance world as Manuel Darquart, makes his return to the inimitable favourite white label Semi Delicious. With two appearances on various artist compilations in the past, and a slew of releases since 2017 on labels including Wolf Music Recordings, Infinite Pleasure and Seb Wildblood’s Coastal Haze imprint – the time has come for Manuel to deliver his unquestionably chic sounds with a larger-than-life Italo-house EP entitled ‘Turbo Shandy’.

Tangling the roots of Italo-house from yesteryear with a forward thinking, dynamic approach to his arrangements and mix, Manuel Darquart steps off the precipice with the title track ‘Turbo Shandy’. A constantly rolling and evolving piece of synth laden ecstasy with reverberating snares and metric hats for an authentic 90’s feel. ‘For You’ follows, a rhythmic groove with Roland toms and crunchy hats setting the stage for swathes of rompler style SFX and a carefully-building progression that brings swirling synth pads and bold lead lines throughout.

The percussion-party continues with ‘In The Club At 5am’, a perfect perker to perk up the dance in the wee-hours. Soothing sore rave joints and ecstatic muscles while the sun rises outside; tremulating basslines join cascading chord phrases for a final surge of late night energy. The EP is closed down with ’89 When Things Were Fine’, a triumphant closing piece that’s joined by a superb remix from label boss Demi Riquísimo. Both combining punchy basses and splashy, immersive drum grooves at contrasting paces, each with their signature touch.