William Florelle’s debut Two & Three EP on WotNot caused an impressive stir for a newcomer. His collaboration with Lua was a thick soup of bumpy jazz and soul-inflected tracks that earned him a 9/10 in DJ Mag, airplay on BBC 6Music and 1Xtra, coverage on Stamp The Wax, Bolting Bits and Ransom Note, as well as Resident Advisor track features for both of the
remixes.
This new release, written and recorded at the The Docks Studios (nestled in the Total Refreshment Centre), continues where he left off. However, this time Will Flo includes his own vocals, and Swedish vocalist Bahia (Zed Bias, EVM 128, Elliphant) lends an irresistible, sensual R&B edge to the tracks, leaving them finely perched between the underground and mainstream.
One of the artist’s best abilities is to distill his featured artists to their very best, while maintaining his own strong sense of style. FSG, or Feels So Good, opens with a murky swirl of Rhodes-like chords and a wash of vocals, launching into a bumping, sexy, half-time R&B roller, allowing Bahia’s singing to recall Erykah Badu while remaining undeniably Florellistic.
Make It Right’s sleazy guitar fills and wobbling keys betray the influence of Steve Lacy, with a lurching drum loop performed by Joe Wood from psyche-poppers Mellow Gang, creating a counterpoint to Bahia and Will’s tender vocals. The artwork is an adaptation of an illustration by Ollie Scully, augmented by Raimund Wong who designed the first William Florelle sleeve.
supported by 16 fans who also own “FSG / Make It Right”
Like so many others, this came like a bolt out of the blue and, even though it's well before payday, I had to have this astonishing album on vinyl to prove it exists. The feel of the tunes makes me feel like the Impressions do, Curtis Mayfield, the big spaces and instinctive horns and stuff drifting in and out. Great grooves and I can see lots of ghosts nodding along to this with big smiles on their faces. At last! Anthony Cottrell