House
January: 14 house releases you need to hear this month
iO Mullen, Brassica, Mathew Jonson and more
iO (Mulen) 'Letters and Numbers EP' (Apollonia Music)
Ukraine’s iO Mulen dropped ‘To The Unknown’ at the start of the year on Apollonia, and now returns with this six-track EP. ‘RDM 37’ starts proceedings with a dependable full-on club assault before ‘XDT 54’ continues in the same vein with a sturdy low-end, although it does add a light-hearted top-end with subtle dancing keys and vocals. ‘MPC 13’ goes deep with its swirling keys and ‘ZGB 41’ has a 90s bass line and crisp beats, while the elastic drums of ‘YPT 58’ help turn it into a late-night roller. ‘ZXY 22’, meanwhile, has squelchy bass and even some snippets of electric guitar. If you’re ever caught somewhere needing to do an hour-long DJ set with only this EP in your bag, you’ll be just fine.
7/10
