Following a slew of anthems in recent months, Break finally drops his highly anticipated album ‘Digital World’ via Symmetry Recordings.
Dropping during Break’s four week residency at London’s XOYO, ‘Digital World’ is a 12 track album featuring various talents. Break previously teased the bigger project with singles last year, Natural Way ft. the late MC Fats and Code Red ft. Fox. Describing the vision for his new album he shares:
“‘Got Soul in a Digital World’ – was vocalist DeRobert’s line from the track I sampled for the title tune of this album. I can really relate to this sentiment and it sums up the whole ethos behind my album. The aim of this album musically was to create a collection of stand-alone songs which also do damage on the dance-floor. I was blessed to have this group of amazing vocalists involved to make that vision a reality.”
With over 20 years of experience on the scene, Digital World will mark Break’s fifth solo album amongst a stack of anthems across the years. Initially discovering his love for breakbeat playing jazz and funk records whilst developing his percussive sense by playing the drums at the age of 14, the DJ-producer has transformed into one of D&B’s finest tastemakers to date.
First cutting his teeth releasing on labels like A Side’s Eastside Records, Commercial Suicide, Metalheadz, Soul:r, Subtitles, Shogun Audio, Exit Records and more, he has since evolved to launch his own label Symmetry Recordings. His label is now home to an impressive roster of names since launching in 2006, with over 15 years of releases from the likes of Calibre, Calyx & Teebee, DJ Die, Spectrasoul, Xtrah, Jack Boston and Break himself.
As the All Time Top D&B Artist on Beatport, Break has built a huge reputation for crisp breaks, heavy bass, and strong melodies with stellar D&B cuts like Last Goodbye with Celestine, as well as I Got You with SHY FX, Breakage and Tyler Daley. Meanwhile, the DJ-producer is regularly enlisted for his talent officially remixing for the likes of Bloc Party, Miss Dynamite, Sigma, Rita Ora, and more, including an official rework of Shy FX’s Bambaata and Dilinja’s Hard Noize.
Mastering both dancefloor mayhem and stand-out soul fuelled singles, tracks like Gunshot Love with Liam Bailey levitate with scintillating sonic textures while Bury A Sound and Natural Way (feat. MC Fats) demonstrate the producer’s meticulous technical skill amongst succinct and weightless funk with no beat misplaced. Lost dabbles in smooth R&B flows courtesy of Charlie Brix’s sugar coated vocals, Another Life is a beefy bass belter, whilst Code Red with Fox and Gotta Believe with Liam Bailey are relentlessly captivating journeys through space and time.
Meanwhile, Box Clever with SP MC burrows underground with system rattling bass. Leading into Wait For You (feat. Lorna King), the contrast of Lorna’s soul soothing topline juxtaposed with club ready breakdowns makes for a modern D&B classic whilst Don’t You Ever Stop, and Headshot represent everything right with the genre. Finally, the rich, all-encompassing sound of album title inspiration ‘Digital World’ taps into the dance floor havoc of the DeRobert and Half-Truths sample for a gritty club sound. Wrapping up his finest material this year with a diverse array of influences, collaborations, and prominent skill, Digital World demonstrates Break’s most impressive body of work to date.
Break – ‘Digital World’ is out 12th May via Symmetry Recordings.
