For those D&B fans who aren’t aware of Digital and his seriously impressive canon of work that goes back as far as 1993, now’s the time to get acquainted. In addition to having multiple classic releases on labels like Metalheadz, Renegade Hardware, V Recordings and Techinque, his own imprint Function Records has been active for most of his long career. Dedicated to the deeper and darker spectrum of drum & bass, to celebrate its 50th release Digital has put together a compilation LP called Shadows and due out November 8.
Shadows features exclusive darkstep and deep bass tracks from Digital himself, Total Science, Drumsound & Bassline Smith, Trace, Klute, Calibre and Jet Li just to name a few. Your EDM managed to get a hold of the exclusive stream of “Wasabi” by Seba & Jr. Vallo ahead of the albums full release. Seba, like Digital, has a long and storied career and has kept the integrity of their own style throughout the many phases of D&B. He’s teamed up with relative newcomer Jr. Vallo recently on a number of smooth yet deep tracks on Seba’s own label, Secret Operations, but “Wasabi” has taken their partnership to the next level.
All the tracks on Shadows hone in on the darkstep flavor that’s characterized Function lo these 19 years and “Wasabi” is no exception. With lots of old school elements like a second snare that syncopates to every other kick, chopped up amen breaks at the phrase transitions and lots of deep rolling sub bass as its synth, the track is really a classic darkstep vibe through-and-through and won’t be in any way mistaken as being part of the current foghorn trend. It’s also got some high-pitched and minor key ambient synths that make the track sound even more eerie, dark and very original rave. 
Digital hand-picked the artists for Shadows and asked them to produce their own take on the Function Records sound and each artist delivered. In the case of “Wasabi,” it’s a classic darkstep track with modern engineering and Seba’s ultra-smooth touch. It doesn’t get much better than that for deep D&B lovers.
Shadows releases on November 8 for the Function50 project and can be pre-ordered in both digital and limited edition vinyl by clicking here.
