Deepest house dispatches from Auckland, NZ brothers Ben and Louis Helliker-Hales. I came to this after all the hype, but am now a card-carrying Chaos In The CBD (CBD = Aussie / Kiwi parlance for 'central business district', not those ‘self care’ pills you bought from a gas station) devotee, and after sublime outings on Mule Musiq and the brothers Helliker-Hales’ own In Dust We Trust imprint (shoutout Lab alum Jon Sable!), this is still their most potent and consistent session. "Trust Is Key" has it all: floating piano, trumpet, deep bass and Theo-grade polyrhythms assembled with utmost care. Not overloaded with vocals, but just enough to tug the heart strings. “Observe” oozes late-night Latin flavors; more dubby melancholic reverie on the title track, closing with the smokey beatdown vibes of “Luxury Motivation.” 4 tracks on one plate = more bang for your buck, hard to think of a reason why you shouldn’t get this. Housed in die-cut Rhythm Section jacket with some nice trivia on the back, recommended.

• 4-track EP
• black 12" vinyl pressing
• plays at 33 RPM
• housed in die-cut RSI company sleeve
• music label: Rhythm Section International 2015

reviewed by tom violence 01/2019