SHADY – Your Skin – Beat & Path

Maxim Helincks and Pieter De Meester, members of the Belgian electronic outfit Stavroz, have broken free and are ready to unleash SHADY upon the world. Fun and carefree, their new project challenges the norm and incites their members to play without restrictions. Their latest recording, ‘Your Skin’, features their brand new single, and 3 remixes, courtesy of Dreems, and Beat & Path masterminds Uone and Out Of Sorts.

‘Your Skin’ kicks off with the titular track in its original version, as performed by SHADY. Fun, funky, and fresh, it invites us to let our hair down with its slick, sexy vocal hook. Drenched with an aqueous feel throughout its melodic elements, ‘Your Skin’ is all about the good times, reminding us of what is waiting for us at the end of this tunnel.

The rest of the record contains reworks of ‘Your Skin’, the first coming in courtesy of Dreems. For his take, the Sydney-born eclectic journeyman sets the mood on the back of tubular percussive patterns, creating an airy frame, where colorful chords pave the way down to bliss street. Crafting a hypnotic setting, Dreems submerges the vocals deep underwater and lets the music subdue listeners into a R.E.M. state.

Closing out the EP in true Beat & Path style, Uone & Out Of Sorts conjure two distinct club-ready tracks that exude their classic retro-futuristic western aura. Deep, stark, and riding on the back of a razor-sharp low end, the trick in ‘Your Skin (Uone & Out Of Sorts Dub Remix)’ lies in its subtle melodic flares that light up the cavernous affaire, until the haze takes over that is, blurring memories of a desire we once knew. That’s the meds kicking in right there.

The alternative mix, known as ‘Your Skin (Uone & Out Of Sorts Vocal Remix)’, feels similar at first glance, but its construction presents a different structure, relying on the vocal lines and hooks for a less intense journey, making the most of its breakdown to let them play, contrasting beautifully with the dark landscape.

For all its banter, ‘Your Skin’ is a well thought, emotion-charged piece that perfectly showcases what Shady is all about, and is rich enough in its foundations, providing enough material for Dreems and the classic duo of Uone & Out Of Sorts to re-imagine its enchanting premise through their unique prisms.

SHADY’s ‘Your Skin’ EP is out now via Beat & Path. Grab your copy here.