How often is it that we are graced with an EP where each and every track are worth a purchase? Naturally that question was both rhetorical and subjective, but Friend Within has graced the house circuit with a brilliant four track effort. The first ever release on Disclosure‘s brand new Method Records, it kicks off with the title track “The Renegade“. If there has to be a resounding theme for this EP by Friend Within, it’s how the EP is unquestionably moody. Influenced by the house of old and the modern dub funk sounds of today, blind listening sounds much akin to Dirtybird Records expectations. Friend Within has had prior work on Dirtybird however, with his songs “The Game” and “The Pull” as examples. Nevertheless, the folks of that San Francisco label will be surely giving these four a spin for time to come. All it takes is one listen of this EP to get a taste of both Friend Within‘s new direction and the future of Disclosure‘s Method Records.
“The Renegade” sends us back to the nineties. Friend Within fixes up Wildchild‘s hit record “Renegade Master“, which had been made famous especially by Fatboy Slim and his 1998 version that reached number three on the UK singles chart. Friend Within‘s version has been floating around the internet for half a year now, why it has taken so long to come out is now clearly apparent. MistaJam even showed “The Renegade” some love recently, playing it on BBC Radio 1.
The second track is “The Scene“, which was dropped by Disclosure themselves at Space Ibiza in the past few days. This one is made great by a superb piano lead, with a few vocal one shots thrown in for good measure.
“The Birth” bounces around with another industrial, gloomy lead much like “The Scene“. What makes “The Birth” such a great tune is that it is a tad faster than “The Scene“, and climbs up and down in timbre, infectiously so.
Finally, “The Work” features Pete Josef, the only song on this album with its own original vocals over top. Characterized by grungy, dubbed basslines, jazzy hi-hats and classic piano, “The Work” is an excellent close to an equally good EP. The effects and filtering gives this one the best breakdown on the The Renegade, all before it culminates with Pete Josef‘s soulful singing coming back in. “The Work” was also the closing track on Disclosure‘s Here Comes The Sun mix.
The entire The Renegade EP from Friend Within is now available here on Beatport.
