Mella Dee Things Don't Change EP

If there's one thing in this world that's certain, it's that things change. And in the life of one dance producer with a new release on Sheffield's Shabby Doll, there have been transitions aplenty. With a switch from garage to house, a move from Doncaster to London, and a change of identity from Ryan Aitchison to Mella Dee, his spacious four- to-the-floor sound has emerged from a state of constant flux. And yet... the more things change, the more they stay the same. “Things Don't Change” is the name of Mella Dee's new Shabby Doll EP, and when you tune into the title track's compulsive twitch, you can hear the echo of his South Yorkshire antecedents coming through. Could that be something like an early Warp drum rattle? A Sweet Exorcist groove? Maybe, maybe not. But the influence seems even stronger on the EP's second tune, “Ripe Traxx”, with its hollow bass and four-note steel drum-like refrain. Mella Dee has deejayed on some of the biggest stages, including Fabric, Sub Club and Tramlines, and has released on the likes of Forefront, Coyote and Sccucci Manucci, so although his other life as one half of UK garage duo Mistamen is never far away – in the crisp scattering of the high-hats, and the bass's heavy growl – the “Things Don't Change” tracks form a house quartet that's both fresh and familiar all at the same time. With remixes from James Welsh (who has recorded for Wall of Sound and Wolf Music) and Sheffield's Oushe (who previously remixed fellow Shabby Doll artists Gosoul), “Things Don't Change” is a dose of c'est la vie for the soul – a reminder that while Mella Dee may be moving onwards and upwards, great house music is just great house music.