Makez, Ava Lava – Holy Sun EP / HEIST062D

RELEASE: Holy Sun EP
ARTIST(S): Makez, Ava Lava

REMIXERS: Retromigration

LABEL: Heist Recordings / HEIST062D
GENRE: Lossless, Deep House
RELEASED: 2022-07-08
AVAILABLE FORMAT: 897Kbps, FLAC
DOWNLOAD SIZE: (157.95 MB)

TOTAL TRACKS 5

1. Makez, Ava Lava – Holy Sun (04:24) , 106
2. Makez, Ava Lava – Holy Sun (Retromigration Remix) (03:57) , 122
3. Makez – Lifted (06:57) , 126
4. Makez – Inwards (06:22) , 93
5. Makez – La Grande Folie (03:40) , 68

Total Playtime: 00:25:20 min

We welcome back Makèz to Heist for another EP full of offbeat rhythms and loose-limbed jazziness. The Holy Sun EP sees the duo deliver a collection of tracks that perfectly fit the rich musical path they’ve taken with their 2021 debut LP on Heist: ‘City of All’. This package features 4 originals, sultry vocals by the talented Ava Lava and a summery remix by Amsterdam based Retromigration.
The title track “Holy Sun” is a sun-kissed broken beat workout that effortlessly blends acoustic elements, Rhodes pianos and soft electronics with the vocals of Ava Lava. The duo tread somewhere halfway between jazz and electronic pop that somehow make us think of Roy Ayers. It might be the classy blend of elements, or the theme that’s often touched upon by Ayers, here serving as the track’s mantra: “Kissed by the fire, healed by the sun.”
Retromigration delivers a glorious remix of Holy Sun, where he exchanges the offbeat rhythms for a more straightforward 4×4 house beat, by that transforming the original to full-on boat party & festival mode. Subtle melodic additions add an extra layer of warmth and it’s the attention to detail with tiny modulations, hits, and chords that makes this one of the best remixes we’ve heard from this talented artist.
From these warm openers, we move into club territory with ‘Lifted’. There’s still a hint of the worldly percussion of the opening tracks, but the rolling bass and string hits give this track some serious dancefloor energy. ‘Inwards’ takes a similar approach, albeit more dubby and spaced out. Here, cosmic bleeps, long pads and ethereal strings trade places over a raw groove and an acid-tinged bassline.
EP closer “La grande folie” sees the duo deliver a track that could have easily been a Detroit Experiment or UR live recording. Blissed out keys with a ‘bassface-inducing’ chord progression are the main attraction here. There’s more to enjoy though: the skippy live drums, leads and improv-like arrangement all add to the electronic-jazz vibe we’ve come to love from Makèz.
The “Holy Sun EP” is a worthy follow up to their amazing debut album and will surely turn even more heads. Rightly so; this is jazzy house music in its most exciting form and we’re extremely proud to share this record with you.
Yours Sincerely,
Maarten & Lars//