Formerly one half of Allez-Allez, Sam Willis has spent the last few years quietly garnering respect for his Walls venture with Alessio Natalizia, notching up two very well received albums and a handful of singles for Kompakt. Their warm, melodic sound is a perfect fit for the label, but as with most groups, the whole is made up of individual parts. To that end Willis has been busy working on his own material for his debut solo full-length under his own name, Winterval, to be released in early November (which you can pre-order here). Taken from the album, “Frozen/Cirrus” shares the melodic aesthetic of his output with Walls but is propelled by a more forceful, weighty groove. Like the nebulous structures the title references, the swirling melodies and percussion hang suspended at different altitudes, everything anchored by the burrowing, relentless bass. It’s a very promising taster of the impending album, with thanks to Willis and Half Machine records for the download.

Sam Willis, “Frozen/Cirrus”