Esa & Mervin Granger - I Stole Some Thunder
Hailing from South Africa, but residing in Glasgow, Esa Williams has quickly established himself since arriving on the Scottish clubscene with residences at Subculture, Noodle and appearances at Pressure and T In The Park all testament to this
Aside from DJing, Williams has had releases on Glasgow’s Refo Recordings, including a solo production under his Mervin Granger guise and work alongside Sensu’s Barry Price as Baresa.
Currently forming part of the nu-school triumvirate of Subculture residents alongside Junior and Telford, I Stole Some Thunder sees him take the Esa & Mervin Granger moniker to launch Rememory Music, a project that mixes independently produced music with bespoke artwork.
This release features four versions, with the Original Mix offering a slice of chunky, deep house, combining urgent claps and cowbell with a hypnotic vocal refrain, strings and warm synth pads.
Soulscan’s re-rub provides a techier take on proceedings; retaining and looping the vocal over initially, snapping beats, it makes like a locked groove before taking flight midway thanks to a thudding kickdrum and phased synths to form some definite ‘peak-time‘ material.
Ali Herron’s Ooft version drops the pace; loosening things up it retains many elements of the original, but adds a satisfying breakdown, beefier drums and an acidic-tinged synth line for good measure.
Finally, those of a digital-download persuasion are offered the exclusive, MG Stole Some Deepness Dub. Taking its cue from the classic nineties U.S. house sound, skipping beats and snares combine nicely with the now familiar synth and strings.
All-in-all, a well-rounded release that offers something for most house-heads (indeed X-Press 2 have already featured it on their Ministry of Sound radio show) and marks the Rememory as a label to watch.