Ray Okpara’s, Ama Recordings, delivers its thirteenth release this September, in the shape of
the, ‘When It Rains’ EP, by Rick Sanders.
Rick Sanders is a budding young producer based out of Italy, he’s predominantly released music via
London’s, Smiley Fingers imprint, picking up support on these releases from the likes of Anja
Schneider, and most importantly Ray himself, who’s now enlisted his skills for the Ama Recordings
imprint.
Title cut ‘When It Rains’ opens the single here first, a chuggy tech-house track employing shuffled
drum programming, rounded sub-bass tones and swirling, dubbed-out background atmospherics. The
record maintains this groove through its seven and a half minute duration, introducing subtle nuances
to the groove along the way to keep it in an ever-enticing state.
Up next is the original mix of ‘Daydream’, embracing a similar stripped, dark aesthetic, Sanders opts
for crunchy, swinging drums, and penetrating low-end rumbles. Heavily processed and delayed vocal
licks then fuel the movement of the record as they sporadically ease in and out building tension and
drive. The ever on-point, Tsuba, Oslo and Raum artist, Federico Molinari, steps up to rework
‘Daydream’ after, as expected the Argentinian delivers his signature hypnotic, hook-driven style,
extracting elements of the original and subtly working them in around the loopy drums that build the
foundation of the track