Two of 20JFG’s favourite purveyors of deadpan disco return to our feral colony of off kilter pop. While the spectre of nu-disco continues its retrenchment the shoots established at its last beachhead continue to flourish, embedding themselves in future-pop experimentation while still drawing wistfully from a synthesised past.

Fan Death‘s new EP plays across a broad spectrum of their growing fan base’s expectations: hi-nrg disco workouts at the start of the EP before venturing into more ambiguous but still hook laden spaces towards the end of the 5 tracks. Soon is the penultimate track on the EP, stripping back a rousing chorus, a saturated video but a reverie, this acts as a summer morning sequel to Chromatics’ eternal Night Drive. The constant bass rhythm and reverb drenched synth pings of dub run downhill to the sea. The clipped, resolute vocals remain but are joined by Joker‘s legion of pitch-bended synth melodies and 20JFG’s secret obsession: horns in dance music. Blissful.

This is regretful sunrise music as the night once again fades from view and the makup-caked morning comes into focus.

Fan Death – Soon

We first posted a track by Appaloosa back in December 2007 and are delighted to herald their return with this freshly mastered delight. Where once there was delicate piano intros and souring heartfelt choruses over simple drum machines in a pure distillation of what is indeed soaring about dance music…here we have a baroque journey through Mellville’s Noir: Le Samouraï techno if the club singer had been Nico and Alan Delon’s character was played by Carl Craig.

That glorious kickdrum straight from Chicago, the ethereal 70s Parisian organ sound layered wonderfully under Anne-Laurie’s vampish, distant siren calls serve merely as preludes to the devastatingly disinterested chorus. A withering put down of distracted intent. Who dances with whom seems less at issue here than in what physical configuration the bodies will be arranged in against the black rocks of a shrouded island. This is nightmarish disco flirting with the tropes of lust and vigour while sucking the naive life from an endless parade of enchanted youth.

Appaloosa – You Will Never Hurt Me