Artist: Damabiah
Title: La Hutte EP
Label: Natura Sonoris
By: Chloe Harris | 1 February 2009
Tracklist:

• 1. La Hutte (Original Mix)
• 2. La Tribu Des Lo (Original Mix)
• 3. La Division Des Crocus (Original Mix)
• 4. La Hutte (Dosem Rework)
• 5. La Hutte (bRUNA Mix)

Damabiah "La Hutte EP"

The newest release on Spanish label Natura Sonoris comes from a very talented Frenchman. Damabiah is new to the scene with a fresh sound that captures a bit of Detroit, the magic of Vangelis, with his own dash of panache. The La Hutte EP is full of melodic hypnotic music and comes with remixes by Dosem and Bruna, and has received big support from Hernan Cattaneo, Laurent Garnier, and Pete Tong, just a couple of the biggest names in dance music.

“La Hutte” is top quality. Beautiful arpeggiated harmonies play with swift sparkling stabs and cool drums, while new melodies fall into place creating a rich environment of sound. There is a lot of movement and momentum as another new airy sound cuts its way through all these arps and fades into a break, which only slows for a second and allows a bit more focus on the arps again. This is such a beautiful arrangement of sounds in eight minutes so you must seek this out now. It will become a classic.

“Le Tribu Des Lo” is similar with its melodies and hooks but has more funk and groove. Smooth sailing orchestral synths fall into the grooves while the arps bring out the vibes, creating a happy and very bouncy ride. Bits of an acidy bassline comes in hard in places and zips through the synths adding another funky layer to groove to. The sounds and style reminds me of Spooky meeting Speedy J in a bouncy castle.

“La Division Des Crocus” has a very analogy bassline and temperate scratchy overhead synths, while the background features a tiny melodic arped synth. There‘s a very open feel and airiness to this track, which also has a more sombre vibe than the first two tracks. Sounds seem to fade in and out like the wind, calming and soothing with each little drop. “La Division Des Crocus” sounds like a grey, rainy day in Paris.

The Ep boasts fantastic remixes as well as Damabiah’s originals from two very talented Spanish musicians. Techno artist Dosem remixes “La Hutte” into a huge, ball breaking floor anthem. The melody still rests where it needs to be but it’s all stripped back to make room for the big bass and the huge breakdown, while Bruna slows “La Hutte” down into a lush breakbeat tinged, down-tempo tune. The big bass and cool vocal samples add an interesting twist to the mellow version.

Damabiah has made a stunning debut release for Natura Sonoris. If the “La Hutte EP” is just a tiny dose of what we can expect from him in the near future, then he’s got quite a long career ahead of him.