Thee X-Press 2

• 1 Moov 05:28
• 2 Zeven 05:34
• 3 Phasing You Out 04:52
• 4 Muse 05:33
• 5 I Can See The Love 05:17
• 6 The Rain 05:31
• 7 You Know (Everybody) 05:40
• 8 Reach For Me 04:47
• 9 Cope 05:10
• 10 Bloom 04:31
• 11 Werq 03:57
• Total Runtime 56:20

Info for Thee

Legendary UK dance act return with their first new album in over a decade. House music would sound very different without the work of X-Press 2. For the last three decades, they have been serving up a broad spectrum of music, ranging from catchy to anthemic, to moody and atmospheric.

"Thee" is the vital duo's fifth album release and the first on Acid Jazz. They have already dropped two singles from the album and now unveil another nine fresh cuts that continue their creative purple patch, following recent remixes for Gabriels and David Holmes. It comes after years of defining the sound of the underground with a mix of powerhouse club tracks and catchy songs, most famously their Ivor Novello Award-winning ‘Lazy ft David Byrne'. Whether crafting for the club, the radio, or the catwalk and brands like Givenchy, Rocky & Diesel continue to showcase the pioneering spirit that has been with them since the early 90s. "Thee" is beefy, fad-free house music stripped back but full of flavour, emotional nuance and well-used vocal fragments.

Say Rocky & Diesel of this latest musical chapter - “We’re so excited to be releasing "Thee" with Acid Jazz. It’s been a long time coming, and some of the tracks have been with us for around ten years now. So it’s fantastic to finally get them finished and pulled together with a bunch of new tunes to form an entirely new album. “

The excellent 'Moov' kicks off this comprehensive sonic statement with a deep, pared-back house rhythm underpinned by signature fat bass. Deft vocal coos, subtle strings, and distant FX bring the detail that keeps you locked, while the new single 'Zeven' plays with a funky disco loop that teases throughout. It never resolves and will ensure natural dance floor rapture. 'Phasing You Out' then offers sweaty and steamy basement grooves with a tender vocal over powerful dusty drums.

The second single, 'Muse', is a more introverted and heartbroken sound and 'Can I See The Love' picks things up with supersized drums and smoke-filled dance floor intensity. 'The Rain' veers into techno with twisted acid lines spraying about amongst church-like chords and dense percussion. After the stomping tribal energy of the first single ‘You Know (Everybody)’ comes the zoned-out, post-rush house of 'Reach For Me' and more elastic rhythms of 'Cope'. 'Bloom' has freewheeling melodies that allow the floor to cut loose, and 'Werq' layers up undulating synths and earworm leads into expressive and storytelling house for the back room.

X-Press 2

X-Press 2
Such is their swashbuckling sense of adventure, it’s hard to believe that X-Press 2 have been at the vanguard of British electronic music for two decades now. Whether it’s as musicians, DJs or remixers, the London duo share the same sense of musical discovery that first united them on the acid-house dance floors of Shoom and Spectrum and the Balearic playgrounds of Ibiza. A pioneering spirit that fuelled early Nineties underground anthems such as the percussive, US-influenced Muzik Express and London X Press. And why not? Chutzpah that helped them create languid deep house classics like Lazy and Give It with vocalists as unlikely - yet inspired - as David Byrne of Talking Heads and Kurt Wagner of Lambchop. A DJ bravado that led to them thinking, two decks are for wimps. Why not six or seven? Why not twelve?

The Three Musketeers have recently become two, with the departure of Ashley Beedle, but its full steam ahead for remaining members Rocky and Diesel. We shouldn’t read anything into Beedle's absence beyond the pressures of combining his solo and production work with X-Press 2, insists Rocky. It just got to the stage where Ash was trying to do too much. He’s the kind of guy who, if he could please everyone, he would, but it just wasn’t conducive to producing good music on either side. It’s absolutely cool between us - we're still good mates and the door is always open if he ever wants to get involved again.

So, now X-Press 2 are two, what does the future hold? In short - loads. Obviously, with Ashley leaving, the dynamic has changed, says Diesel. But we are carrying on the X-Press 2 sound and developing it. The key is that the pair are as excited about music as they were when they first met in Hayes, Middlesex in the mid Eighties. In their DJ sets - now on a relatively restrained four decks and CDJs they steer away from the Lazy era and chart a new course through 21st century house of every hue, from the lush and stately to the sparse and jacking. We are just overwhelmed by how much great stuff there is, smiles Diesel. We just can’t get everything in.

Indeed, in X-Press 2’s world of limitless possibilities, only one thing is certain. We will never make a song that says; Take me higher, insists Diesel. That’s just never gonna happen. Rest assured - Rocky and Diesel are as restless and averse to predictability as ever. Long may the adventure continue…

This album contains no booklet.