Eli Escobar – Happiness

Extremely close to the Holy Grail of 'real' house...

The Holy Grail status of the ‘real’ sound of house will always be up for grabs, but NYC’s Eli Escobar is doing a mighty fine job of wrapping all of his ten digits around it. Previous album ‘Up All Night’ — an immaculate house and disco odyssey — gravitated from Escobar’s hip-hop pedigree and will now cost you a pretty penny. While you can’t put a price on ‘Happiness’, it’s another essential stockpile of dancefloor bullion.

The gorgeous disco centrepiece and album launchpad ‘Happiness pt 2’ is bound to see a spike in roller-skates sales, with the same diva directives of ‘Can’t Stop Dancing’ ghosting around a sky-kissing, love train-steering glitterball. Alluring, persuasive house getting amongst the moment; these are uptown sounds for dancers in a world of their own, pushing high class grooves for those matching tuxedos and flares. It’s this warmth that has the album trumping its predecessor by a short nose.

Escobar’s robustness shouldn’t be underestimated either. ‘Chaka Khan’ is acid flexing harder than the name suggests, a straight-up jacker looped with great poise and uncomplicated knowledge, as well as enjoying a touch of camp glamour. Classic NY houser ‘I Need U’ digs its killer heels in, tailored for any of the big gun house labels worth their salt, a soul skipper built on a matter of chords and keys.

To a dipping sun zoning in on clubbing’s heyday, vocals are not belted out solo but move the dancefloor by flaunting rank in a mixture of sultry headmistress and aerobics instructor: ‘Miss My Luv’ demands compliance to repeated commands. ‘Phreeky’ isn’t backwards in coming forwards, but the strength of the piano & funk groove, near enough plum French touch, means you should at least enquire as to the track’s hotel room number. ‘80s R&B clinch ‘4 Luv’ heads for the boudoir come last orders, and continues to make the point of the album’s timeless appeal.

Intimate and exclusive, yet coming at you with open arms: the beat, très chic.

9/10

Words: Matt Oliver

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