Wookie

Oooh, smooth as dark chocolate as Wookie combines jungle beats with a UK Garage groove that oozes from my speakers like honey. From the opener ‘Get Enuff’ with its percussive vocal and keyboard tweaks we know we’re dealing with something a little bit special. ‘Scrappy’ is chunkier and deeper, while ‘Battle’ is made of more ethereal stuff, but manages easily to seduce with a faintly-unsettling-but-fun-anyway groove. On ‘Down On Me’ the jungle elemets are further to the fore, with a rattlebag rhythm track that’s polished by some silky keyboards and a cool female vocal. ‘Back Up’ is lighter than air and equipped with a nice Spanish guitar lick that’s as perfect as it is unexpected. ‘VCF’ is more sparse than it’s brothers; ideal come-down-sounds. ‘What’s Going On’ is another track that features an Iberian influence, this time complemented by a delicious vocal take on the Soul II Soul “However Do You Want Me” line.

The credits and thank you’s namecheck some of the most gifted purveyors of quality British dance, and if you don’t want to rush out and get this now, you haven’t been listening.