London party-cum-label Secretsundaze follows up its promising debut artist EP from Brawther with a turn from recently quiet house duo Two Armadillos (one of whom, Giles Smith, also heads up the party and its label). Like that first release, People of the World is pleasantly reserved, dressing down the usual London excitability in favour of pinstripes and pocket squares. Personally, I’m not the biggest fan of overtly jazzy touches in my house music, but the potentially gimmicky acoustic bass line on “Warriors Return” packs a fierce low-end bump that sounds as if it’s going to knock the smoothly trucking track askew. It never does, of course, but the tension is thrilling every time that bass goes on the ascent.
The two tracks on the flipside are less acid jazz but no less classy: “People Of The World” takes broken shards of a string section, smooths off the edges and sends them sailing over a gently bumping bass line (what Onra might sound like in a cocktail lounge), at least until the hi-hats pull the track into more straightforward territory. The EP’s least notable but still solid track, “Night Ridin” funnels a fidgety bass line below a resonant chord riff that sounds like it’s constantly doubling back on itself, a slightly psychedelic touch that lends the tune a new layer to chew on. People Of The World isn’t about to change the world or the minds of the people in it, but it’s a solid three-tracker of no-frills house, perfectly appropriate fodder for a Sunday dance party.
