As we’ve reached our 20th release, we wanted to celebrate the milestone with some fresh new blood on the imprint. The New Soul EP features 4 exclusive cuts from 4 incredible producers, familiar and less so, from across the globe.

Robert Walker AKA Strife II, is a producer based in Birmingham, UK. This beautiful down-tempo soundscape opens with ringing pianos backed by soft pads. The filtered drums roll in with a glitchy pattern giving way to a rumbling low-end and frantic rhythmic percussion, topped with ethereal effected vocals. A haunting breakdown section finally gives way to a fast paced second drop, full of moody piano melodies and continued vocal chops. Robert’s first release with the label shows a measured and interesting approach to production and composition.

From roughly 5,200 miles away from the Solvent HQ are Blacklab, otherwise known as brothers Karim & Kashim Rodriguez. The Las Vegas, US based pair deliver a smooth and subtle roller in ‘Kinetic (Keep It Moving)’. A slow-paced intro makes use of soft pads, filtered percussion and rumbling sub partnered with jazz horns. The drop sees a beautiful blend of atmospheric swelling pads, melancholy horn blasts andy an energetic hang drum melody. After their release on Soul Sessions Vol. 1, the pair continue to prove their understanding of the more languid, liquid style of the genre, despite their neuro-funk beginnings.

Second new boy on the EP is Rho AKA, Prash Chouhan presenting ‘Gonna Be’. Originally hailing from Watford, and now at university in Leicester, Prash’s debut on Soulvent is worth the wait. The track opens with menacing pads and hints at the strong rhythmic elements at the heart of the songs direction. The build gives way to a blocky, firm double-bass groove – showing that production trends can be subtly adhered to across genre. Rho is definitely a name to look out for on Soulvent in the future.

Lastly, label favourites Jack ‘Pola’ Higgins and Harry Bryson return with their first original track on Soulvent since 2015’s Soul Sessions Vol. 1 album. Taking a break from working on their debut album, the pair step up with ‘Raid’. Proving their worth as label mainstays, this lush piece of music opens with soaring pianos, pads and strings backed by a solid rolling drum groove.