Kris Wadsworth is the young passionate Detroit producer some love to hate. Wadsworth is an unapologetic original; taking his time with slow burning arrangements that build from drips of rhythm into thick timeless sonic soundscapes. His brand of four on the floor is rough around the edges and burning hot in the center - just like Kris. With future work planned for UK mainstay NRK, he has been writing emotionally deep but psychically frantic house tracks for labels like Morris Audio, Dark Energy, Hypercolour, Adult Only, Poker Flat and our own Fresh Meat Records.
The story behind "Hear Me Now" is already legend at the Fresh Meat office. Kris finished the four tracks featured here right before his last European tour. He dropped the newly written tracks on a single CDR to test out on the road. In the UK, a scoundrel (or several of them) stole one of his bags at a gig, taking with it the laptop storing the original song files. Kris sent us his "as is" limited tunes. We promptly picked up all four gems and enlisted the help of our friend and genius mastering guru Shawn Joseph at Optimum Mastering for restoration. In short, what you have before you are four tracks of brilliantly written and meticulous music that were almost lost to the world. They will never be remixed.
"Hear Me Now" is quintessential Kris Wadsworth. There is the hypnotic "That Groove", the gritty cut-up "Jazz Jack", the faux ghetto-tech stomper "Prayer For Detroit" and the bouncy sample mangling "Town House." Each track takes the dancer in a different direction. "Prayer..." starts with a muted kick drum and a single oscillator blip. It takes time, but in true Wadsworth fashion, it organically builds into a pad laden Motor City warehouse epic. Both "Jazz Jack" and "Town House" are heavy with horns, piano and playful vocal snippets; the former keeping dry and focused on the samples that make up its groove while the latter veers off into a dreamy synth drenched escapade. "That Groove" is in part Kris' nod to Moritz von Oswald & Mark Ernestus' Basic Channel project. He has taken inspiration from their classics and added his own signature jump and unique sonic economy. In certain moments the track comes to complete silence, doing more for dance floor dynamics than any build up ever could. Its restraint and tact like this that makes Fresh Meat champion this rhythmic madman.
View Press Release
