[Downbeat]

When an artist all but drops off the face of the Earth it’s very easy to forget about them. That 12″ or two gathering dust in our collections are one of few reminders of their talent, seemingly wasted on a career in banking, dentistry or whatever other field pulled them away from music. This was essentially DaRand Land’s story. His first few releases arrived on Chris Gray’s Deep4Life imprint and featured an inspiring blend of atmospheric house and tough bass lines. But after an attempt at starting the Sound Principle label didn’t quite pan out, Land seemed to disappear. After several years and a cross-country move, Land finally set up his studio again and Foregrounds And Backgrounds for Downbeat finds the producer picking up right where he left off.

“Think-ing” starts the 12″ off with crisp, shuffling rhythms, a tugging bass pulse and weightless pads that are highlighted by a delayed female vocal sample (“I was just thinking about you”), her tender utterances imparting a dreamy effect. “More Than Roots” take a similar path but focuses more on the melodic cushioning before bringing in a clipped vocal and acid line to take it in a new direction. The brief “Interlude — 3 of Me” is an interesting diversion using many of the same elements but enters at a slower pace, seemingly better suited for an album. The collaboration with Jose Lau on “Glowing Night (Lau Meets Land)” is fairly sparse but somehow manages to stay memorable with its deep house form. “Middlesex (D4L Edit)” utilizes a rippling analogue bass line and flowing synths before a jazz-inflected keyboard sequence and warm chords reveal the greater depth in Land’s house sound, simultaneously tipping its hat to his former label’s defining sound. Foregrounds And Backgrounds meets somewhere in the middle of Land’s past and future, putting him right where he needs to be: back on the map.