A collaboration over a decade in the making, Paul Rose revives his Spectr alias to collaborate with Bakongo, the percussive alter-ego of UK Funky originator, Roska.

Paul Rose [Scuba, Spectr] and Wayne Goodlitt [Bakongo, Roska] have been connected since the late 2000s, their musical paths converging via a series of auspicious production linkups. Rose recognised his talent early on, recruiting him to remix Untold’s ‘Just For You’ in 2009, which epitomised the union of post-dubstep and UK funky that was bubbling up at the time.

Prior to this new collaboration, Rose dropped just two Spectr releases since 2003; one kicked off his iconic label Hotflush no less, a pre-cursor to the Scuba project that would follow; the other was the slinky robotics of ‘Dance 4 Me’ on Roska’s Kicks & Snares imprint in 2011.

Since the early days of their friendship, a musical collaboration has always been on the cards. As with so many things in life, 2020 provided that watershed moment. And so, we hit 2021 with a pair of drum-heavy weapons on our hands, both artists coming off a prolific 2020 with momentum and form in spades. After a year focused on incorporating live instrumentation into his Scuba productions, Rose in particular, relished the direct dancefloor approach the Bakongo x Spectr collaboration allowed and a return to UK-centric rhythms.

‘Close Call’ strings together a subterranean low end, metallic drum lines and a curious bassline melody that flows in and out throughout the five-minute jam. ‘Off Guard’ is a crunchy banger that gallops along offering brilliant energy and raspy percussions throughout.

The full release is out on Janurary 29th, but you can listen to ‘Close Call’, plus pre-order the release here.

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