Beloved by dance music fans the world over for his ahead of their time club gems like Hyph Mngo, Sicko Cell, and Mercy, English music producer Joy Orbison see’s out the pandemic with his most ambitious and impressive body of work to date. His new 14-track mixtape, still slipping vol.1, combines the robust and playful nature of his unique production style with a lengthy list of features, and a number of touching recordings of his immediate family, including his dad, sister, cousin, and
aunt. The tracklist comes as a gluttonous buffet of aural goodness for fans of his past works, with the likes of Born Slipping and Better channeling all the things we love about a Joy Orbison track, the latter also provides our favourite vocal on the project, a sensual top line from French vocalist Léa Sen. Other stand out sounds featured include the dub-driven crunch of Sparko, the softened transients on the heavily melodic Layer 6, and the drowsy slur of ‘rraine. There’s also a bunch of downtempo, rap, and hiphop sounds on display elsewhere. Mentioning the project in a recent Instagram post, Joy Orbison added “I’ve been working on the idea of a mixtape for a while now. I’d never really wanted to make an album, but the way I’ve been making and listening to music has changed a lot over the last few years and it doesn’t always make sense on a single or EP. I’ve made a point of making this record feel really human, light hearted and humorous in places too so that the weirder bits of the record don’t seem too wanky or self-indulgent.”
Where to start:
Better: Richly textured drum rhythms and mesmerising top lines from Léa Sen
Layer 6: Firmly planted kick drums, dreamy melodies, and emotive vocal samples
Born Slipping: Stripped back house anthem with filtered synth work and straight forward drum grooves
Previous from Joy Orbison:
81b EP (2018, Hinge Finger)
Slipping EP (2019, Hinge Finger)
If you like this then check out:
Objekt – Cocoon Crush (2018, PAN)
Pangaea – In Drum Play (2016, Hessle Audio)
Joy Orbison – still slipping vol.1 is out now on XL Recordings.