Focusing on the soulful and inspirational facets of house music, the production duo of Dimitri Craven and Jerry Andrews – collectively known as Zona – have unveiled "Never Forget", the latest single taken from the album Peace, Love and Understanding. This eclectic combo, based in Los Angeles, pushes a 'live' deep house style and has had previous acclaimed releases on Good For You Records, Kapa, and House Tribe Records. 70x7 Records is Zona's own imprint, and it plays host to the alluring "Never Forget".
Featuring regular collaborator Valerie Moise on vocals, Greg Brown on vibraphone, and the pounding surge of Greg Velasquez's percussion, "Never Forget" is soulful house at its best, accented with touches of acid jazz and deep disco. The song's lyrics send best wishes to a lost love as expressive layers of keys, vibes, and snappy rhythms – all buoyed by a super funky bass line – win over the most resistant of dance floors.
The remixes are led by the 'super collaboration' of Lenny RX, Eric Kupper, and Kenny Summit who deliver a breezy and soothing remix in a classic late night New York soulful style. The percussion-driven beat is gentle but solid, and warm pads and melodic synth leads accompany Valerie's voice with lovely sophistication. Next up, Sidney Perry, who runs the Qubonix label and is an up-and-coming producer on the LA house scene, provides an effective, stripped-down version of "Never Forget". Jazzy chords tightly follow the vocal melody, creating an atmosphere that's dreamy and hypnotic. There's also a Qubonix dub mix which highlights the vibraphone and pulls phrases from Valerie's vocal … pure deep house magic. The final remix comes from Paul Andrew, another DJ based in the City of Angels, and it's a delightful disco-tinged version featuring dubby effects through its distinctive sound, while maintaining the original's powerful bass line and percussion. Prime time business.
Quentin Harris - "The Super Collab Mix is hot!"
Gene Hunt - "Blazing, baby!"
Graeme Park - "Delicious … absolutely wonderful."
Opolopo - "Sweet package here with some nice remixes."
Gene Farris - "Nice one!"
Abicah Soul - "Beautifully done … The Qubonix mix has super flow."
Brothers' Vibe - "Great package!"
Marques Wyatt - "Digging this!"
Hollis P Monroe - "I'm feeling the Qubonix dub a lot!"
DJ Craig C (Pound Boys) - "I'm digging the vibe on this one … solid deep house!"
Master Kev - "That's a super remix from Lenny RX, Eric Kupper, and Kenny Summit!"
Kai Alcé (NDATL Muzik) - "The Qubonix mixes are my favorites."
Robert Owens - "Great track and mixes."
Tyree Cooper - "Hot s%&t! Loving it."
Beppe Gioia (Garage Family / Unified) - "Deep!"
Shane Johnson (Fish Go Deep) - "The Super Collab Mix is very classy, giving the vocal a perfect rich, musical ride. And I'm a sucker for a vibes solo!"
Richie Roberts (The Dance Factory, BBC) - "I've been hammering this for a week now … absolutely sensational from Eric Kupper and Kenny Summit."
Stefan Popovic (DiscoTone Radio Show) - "This is a smooth, beat rolling tune. Listen it once? Well… listen it twice – YUP! Rolling like a stone."
Miguel Garji (Ibiza Global Radio / DeepClass Records) - "The Qubonix remixes are the ones for me."
Michael Fossati (Spirit of House webzine) - "Top notch soul-infused mixes by Qubonix and the team of Lenny RX, Eric Kupper, and Kenny Summit are not to be missed."
Eddy Spirit (Spirit Crew / Janga Radio) - "An eclectic soulful production with outstanding vocals and blissful jazz-funk orchestration. The Qubonix dub break is sexy and hypnotic. This is a label to watch out in the future!"
Available now from Traxsource, Beatport, and iTunes.