Needledrop

The German pair of Hauke Freer and Matthias Reiling are no strangers to releasing quality long-format albums and while rising through a discerning community of DJ’s have previously released three consecutive albums on tastemaker label Delusions of Grandeur culminating in 2017’s “Listen To Your Heart”. Their latest and fourth studio album set to be released on 'Night Time Stories’, the London based sister label to the coveted ‘LateNightTales’, marks a notable move towards the downtempo dynamic of artists like Nightmares on Wax, DJ Shadow and Portishead. Artists that have all played a strong influence in Session Victim’s variety of output over the last decade. ‘Needledrop’ provides a suite of both uplifting and easy-listening moments, refined and understated individually, yet cohesively crafted with the honest musicianship and inarguable credentials that we know of production duo Session Victim. As accomplished producers, Session Victim have been intent on delivering a characteristic body of work for uninterrupted play, and with ‘Needledrop’ they have landed with significant inspiration from the lavishly textured and subtly layered jazz and soul compositions that found their way into late 90’s trip hop. Fusing an array of live instrumentation and organic groove through their intuitive sampling sessions, Session Victim’s fourth album succeeds in actively engaging the listener’s mood and intellect in equal measure. A setting, a mood, all exposed to the almost random dropping of the stylus on a vinyl record; ‘Needledrop’ as the name suggests, positions Session Victim among downtempo’s most quality works by delivering a genuine feeling of intuitiveness in its production approach; entirely natural in composition yet flawlessly precise in execution. Album opener ‘Bad Weather Mates’ sets the tone with a palette of retro soul and feel-good warmth of instrumental hip hop that continues right through to ‘Still High’; as authentic an exhibition of their strengths as record collectors as their nuance as producers. It takes significant commitment to do so, yet Session Victim have displayed experienced restrain to avoid the album’s tracks being lured back to a 4/4 dancefloor formula while retaining a fusion of jazz, electronica and low-slung house music for which their energetic international DJ sets have become synonymous. Tracks ‘The Pain’, ‘No Sky, Blue Sound’ and ‘Glimmer’ incorporate electronic touches where required, while keeping the original broken groove skillfully in-tact. With this album, Session Victim have focused their attention on a large arsenal of dusty influences across long forgotten vinyl, 90’s computer games and beyond, rediscovering the intuitive and playful sides of their production personalities, while also demonstrating their cherished music knowledge.