Lawrence - Jill

01 Jill
02 Jill (Reprise)
03 Hamtramck
04 Sunrise

Lawrence has made a career out of the minor key, his epicend-of-the-night deep house for depressed clubbers is now a cottageindustry. His formula for the title track here is much the same as it has seemingly always been: "Jill" is a slow-moving tune that languidly lays out a soft beat perfect for the starry-eyed, tinkled synths that interweave with one another. Its yet another fully-formed song ripe for the warm-up.

Kersten knows his audience, which is why its followed immediately on the A-side by a reprise of the same, taking the kick out and showcasing how well his melodies hold up without a steady thump behind them. Its reminiscent of Kaitos beatless album for Kompakt and the effect is the same: Light, airy and perfect DJ tool fodder.

Things pick up as much as they can on a Lawrence EP on the B-side with "Hamtramck," which plys a similar tone as "Jill" with a tiny bit more urgency behind the beat. Ultimately, though, the track falls into the trap that much of his output has recently: Its easy listening house, with melodies too simplistic to give it a specialness that extends it beyond its modest aims. Far more successful is the bell-laden ambient work "Sunrise" which again takes Kaitos sound and runs with it. If Mule and Lawrence arent plotting a release of more ambient-driven material they ought to: Painting Lawrences sound in a new light, it offers up proof that theres life in his sound yet.