[Hypercolour]

With releases from Maya Jane Coles and Kevin McPhee in the bag, it seems like Hypercolour is ratcheting up its game, entering even greater levels of accessibility and relevance. In the midst of this comes the formal debut of Tilman Tausendfreund, whose “Lost Treasure of The Juggernaut” lays down a jumpy but fairly standard house rhythm — nervy, skittering snares scratching out a rhythm more nuanced than most. But the real excitement comes when he wrings a bunch of filtered samples through it every which way he can, contorting the melodies, mirroring them and taking glee in the grotesque shapes and forms until the whole thing floats away from its drum track and off into the sky.

Hamburg deep house don and Smallville associate Christopher Rau is the other star here, and, expectedly, his track “Last Time Was So Good” lacks some of the filter-disco flair of Tausendfreund’s collaboration. That’s not to say it fares any worse, and “Last Time” still has some of that shimmer and certainly the jaunt: Rau’s is just based on a more laborious thump gently flecked by snares, riding a rather wonky piano chord progression that perpetually ascends and stumbles back down again. The pair also collaborate for two more bite-sized house nuggets. “Pea Gravel” combines Rau’s hefty thump with Tausenfreund’s slippery melodies and filter-happy fingers, while “Dtrh” especially carries Tausenfreund’s signature, the entire thing a sample gradually unraveling its frequencies over a Balearic-on-cough-syrup lope. Catchy, deep, and gorgeous, Pea Gravel continues a strong run for the UK label and also shows off a promising new deep house talent in the process.