[Esperanza]

Listening to this sublime release from Fred P. as the sun sets after another glorious, blue-sky day, I’m reminded more of the Balearics than Brooklyn. While Fred is one of the linchpins of the resurgent New York house sound, On This Vibe — fittingly, on Esperanza, a Spanish label that has embraced deeper sounds after getting plink plonk minimal out of its system — goes back in time to classics like Sueno Latino’s eponymous hit or the “ambient house” of 808 State for inspiration. Based on a sensuous, chord sequence anchored to tight claps, Fred then proceeds to add plaintive piano keys and what sounds like a vocal sample from an old hardcore record and then repeats to fade. That this process lasts over ten minutes only serves to reinforce the associations with the dreamlike, liquid state that early, U.K. proto deep-house also strived for.

As I think of “Vibe,” I keep imagining how it would fit with other Ibiza classics — and there should be no hang ups about mentioning those two words in that sequence, no matter how corrupted the phrase has been by countless cash-in compilations or brainless reality programs — like Moodswing’s “State of Independence,” “Sueno Latino” and the superlative “Paper Moon” by 51 Days. Patrice Scott’s remix is more metallic and urban. The sensation of lapping waves and ice melting into mojitos as a warm Mediterranean sends the fireflies off course in the dusk that prevailed on the original is noticeably absent. But what Scott lacks in balminess he makes up for with intricate, snaking rhythms and a gloriously effective, building synth riff that offers as much warmth and sensuous release as the original version. Ibiza via Brooklyn back to mainland Spain and out to the rest of the world — who’d have thought the Balearic spirit would be so enduring?