Gorgon City – Sirens

A UK House Music Sample Plate

Gorgon City is the UK production duo of Kye “Foamo” Gibbon and Matt “RackNRuin” Robson-Scott. Their latest release, Sirens, is a collection of the singles and various tracks they’ve produced. Each track on the album features a different artist, in which Robson-Scott and Gibbon are writers/producers. Given this layout, Gorgon City delivers a color wheel of house music. While each track is different in its own sense, each carries a distinct Gorgon City watermark.

The track “Coming Home” (feat. Maverick Sabre) is first on the roster of Sirens. It’s representative of what you’ll hear on various tracks: multi-layered throbs of bass, punchy key arrangements and lots of clapping (a slap-clap, like a more distinct snare).

One of the most memorable singles on this record is “Ready For Your Love (feat. MNEK).” The build up to the chorus is smooth and excitable, and once the beat drops, Gorgon City get into their groove. But perhaps the most blissful track on Sirens is “Here For You (feat. Laura Welsh).” The track is structured like a roller coaster taking us up with lots of head bobbing, then hitting lows where we tap our feet to the bumping undertone bass. What really makes this track stand out are Laura Welsh’s vocals – it’s a special gem, when you consider how each track features a new artist to indulge in.

The good thing about house music is it’s so pliable – this is where Gorgon City sets themselves apart from other producers. On “Lover Like You,” Gorgon City includes a piano hook that stamps in Katy B’s vocals (an example of those punchy keys).

It’s hard not to compare Gorgon City to Disclosure, another UK house music duo. There are some similarities.  The bell-like arrangement on the second half of “Real (feat. Yasmin)” seems imported from the Disclosure warehouse, but if you listen closely, it seems as if Disclosure is a more fleshed-out version of Gorgon City, stripping some layers and amplifying the sub-woofer bumping bass. Regardless, there’s something in the water over there in the UK. Let’s hope they don’t run out of it any time soon.