[Yore]

New releases from Yore always catch my attention. Some days you’ll get a fresh release from a revered veteran like Alton Miller, while on others you’ll find something unexpected from an artist you’ve never heard of before. The “Untitled EP” from A Work in Progress is a little bit of column A and a little bit of column B. The single’s two metropolitan house cuts come from Priceless One, described by the label as “a club kid from Detroit,” but also boast contributions from deep house royalty Chez Damier. The lead track of the package, “Moment of Truth,” starts off on an ominous note, as though we were headed into an icy techno tundra. The darker synthetic stays lurking in the wings, but stick around another thirty seconds, and “Sessomatto” rhythms and upbeat funk bass deliver a hell of a thaw. The electric keys, though, are where the magic happens, gliding effortlessly between contemplative soulfulness and bright ebullience, and helping the overall vibe settle rather naturally somewhere between slick Chicago house and, well, a live band. Definitely score this one as another Yore victory.

For a minute, it seems as though the flip’s “Let Me Do Yore” will turn in a similar slice of uplifting house, but this turns out to be a far busier track. Quite simply, it’s crowded, shifting back and forth between modular layers of hooks, vocal coos, keyboard melodies, and various other effects until a sort of groove saturation is reached. It’s easy to see why Yore head Andy Vaz would be attracted to this tune, as it almost has the feel of a super-compressed Vaz set. And, for the most part, I’d say this works. The track holds at a near-breaking point for the bulk of its eight minutes but, although I sometimes feel a bit pressed against the wall, it’s incredibly difficult not to get swept up by the packed-club energy it whips up.