Nikitch & Kuna Maze “The Leak / Domu & Sonar’s Ghost Remix”

It’s a very rare day when any record label manages to lure the legendary broken beat pioneer and veteran of Reinforced’s “2nd Wave”, Dominic Stanton, most commonly known as Domu, to come out of retirement to share one remix, let alone three, yet Tru Thoughts have managed just that. 

French duo Nikitich & Kuna Maze appear to be outside any particular scenes, but they have been steadily applying their esteemable musical chops, classically trained, jazz conservatory trained, to creating fresh new club-focused music influenced by juke & footwork, house, broken beat, classic jazz funkers like Azymuth, and so on, that add to those classic templates rather than falling into a regurgitative trap. 

The original version of “The Leak” is a vibrant hybrid of juke & footwork with jazz and a touch of broken beat. An almost 4×4 juke beat, slowed down to a still uptempo 135bpm, is complimented by hi-hats that swing like they are broken and a propulsive bassline. Flutes solos and synths build the musicality.

Dominic steps up first with a broken beat remix, concentrating almost all the melodic components of the original into the basslines, with a smattering of subtly utilised synths & keys work. The hi-hats and claps of the original are repurposed into the funkiest of broken rhythms. Intricate but swinging hard. 

The second remix comes from Dom’s more recent Sonar’s Ghost alias, which refers to his earlier work as Sonar Circle, a key figure of seminal DnB label Reinforced’s 2nd Wave. Clearly his own, matured take on DnB/Jungle, there might even be a splash of footwork, but it isn’t out of place. Manic drum breaks bed floating synths and basslines, beautifully contrasting in their dreamlike effect. 

Finally, The Domu x Sonar’s Ghost Epic Remix Mix, unites the two previous remixes into one long version, bridging the two previous remixes. Summarising a timely reminder of the high levels set by Domu that so many producers are still trying hard to even come close to. Let’s hope we hear more from Domu, or Sonar’s Ghost, very soon.

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