Within the music of Galaxians – the duo of Matt Woodward and Jed Skinner formed in 2012 – lies a powerfully hedonistic strain that does much to loop a thread through the party lineage of their hometown of Leeds. Coupled with the first impressions of what the pair loosely term their “pre-digital dance music”, you might not raise an eyebrow to find out that their cues are taken in-part from classic disco and house labels such as Sleeping Bag or Chicago’s TRAX, nor that their early EPs found homes across the Atlantic on the similarly-minded Dither Down in Brooklyn, and Atlanta’s Rotating Souls Records. However, it’s the beating pulse of Northern England club life, married with the thriving independence of much of the region’s best venues and spac- es that forces its way through on the duo’s debut LP Let The Rhythm In. Recorded at Leeds Ghost Town studios with Ross Halden, the nine tracks come steeped in the Yorkshire city’s less-trumpeted but enduring house heritage – with inspiration drawn from the all-day parties of the late 70s and early 80s, the disco that emerged from the fading Northern Soul movement of the early 80s and the resonant acid house era that boomed across both sides of the Pennines. The heat and dusty decay of 808s pushed to their limit, the sunshine smile of piano hooks and the squelch and splatter of analogue synth punctuate the crackle and fizz of Let The Rhythm In’s nine tracks. The raw playfulness in their sound still bubbles beneath the surface, but there’s a whole new fluidity to proceedings, a seamless flow between the rattle and strut of their analogue funk. What's altered the soundscape unequivocally is the addition of long-time friend and vocalist Emma Mason. Though not a constant, her presence is felt immediately on the opening track Street Level, a powerful, soulful vocal that commands the track in a way that resonates far beyond the relatively brief time she actually appears. Sometimes the instrumentation is allowed to run wild by itself, but it’s when they unite as a trio and throw their net wide that Galaxians truly show the extent of their arsenal to direct torsos and trigger feet.

Smooooooth as silk, wild yet mild, this is boogie squared! Combining elements of NYC/Chicago disco and boogie, italo futurism and superior synths we have an awesome album from an incredible trio!. his could have come from 82 but it's firmly rooted un modern day dancefloors. More Please!!!

By Matt