On the sixth document of their vinyl-only V/A series ‘EXCURSIONS’, Josiah Hartley’s Phuture Shock label continues its quest to seek and showcase both new and established talent from the adventurous depths of the dance music underground and beyond. Assembling four tracks by a quartet of artists spanning the globe from Brazil to Germany, UK via France and the USA, this versatile collection of dancefloor-orientated cuts largely focuses on the many diverse shades of contemporary deep house.

Leading the charge is Brazilian DJ/producer Nørus, one of São Paulo’s most promising new house music exports on the verge of breaking through, who makes his debut outing on wax with the heavily supported ‘Make A Move’. This dancefloor weapon has been heating up the underground as a digital dubplate – particularly within the international ‘lo-fi’ house scene - for the best part of 18 months, and here finally finds a home for an official physical release. Another fresh face, or rather lesser known talent named Sloppy J is also welcomed into the fold. With one sole release (‘My Jams’ EP) under his belt to date, the low-key Berlin-based Canadian, who also moonlights under the alias Jonattan Levingstone, offers up his first new output since said EP, released on Montreal imprint Parages Music back in 2016.

Making a welcome return, albeit in a remixed presence is Nottingham producer Cyclonix, with a track that first appeared in its original form on ‘EXCURSIONS # 3’. But here gets given a new lease of life from Parisian DJ/producer and D.Ko records co-owner Flabaire, who alongside his label mates, has proved to be a leading light of the revived French house scene in the past few years. Completing the dynamic cast is Ugandan-born, Connecticut/Berlin-based veteran DJ and producer Jenifa Mayanja. Widely known in deep house circles for her efforts on the likes of Underground Quality, Deep ArtSounds, and the three labels she co-helms - Bumako recordings, Sound Warrior and EDJ Records - here she contributes something that taps into her more leftfield impulses.

Freshly mastered for max sonic appreciation, ‘Make A Move’ by Nørus sets off the proceedings on the A-Side; where scuttling hi-hats and UK-style pounding, juggernaut kicks are paired with gnarly bass tones, a sampled vocal loop that drifts in and out of the mix, and a dusty milieu of woozy pads that altogether manages to evoke the hazy nostalgia of early 90’s house and techno raves. Next up the reins are handed over to Sloppy J with the hypnotic, Chicago-influenced workout ‘Lange Nacht’, which is centred around a filtered piano groove that swings forth with jazzy flair over a cacophony of jittery cymbals, fierce offbeat claps and sporadic bursts of bleeps and blips from an unknown planet many light years away. For his remix of Cyclonix’s ‘On My Mind’ on the flipside opener, Flabaire cranks up the BPM with the addition of rolling four to the floor beats and a slinky bassline; leaving just small traces of the original’s vocal sample, whilst sprinkling a melange of techy synth hooks and warm emotive pads as the track evolves into something entirely new and deep into peak-time territory. Before Jenifa Mayanja completely flips the script with the esoteric deepness of EP finale ‘The Deed Is In The Doing’, an abstract house jam for the mind, body and soul of the Room 2 dwellers, where sweeping sci-fi chords and MK-esque MIDI sax licks envelope themselves around a steady 4/4 rhythm track replete with intricate percussion, and a groovy analogue bassline that writhes its way around the track with serpentine splendour.