Since he first emerged under his Roska alias back in 2009, UK-based electronic producer Wayne Goodlitt has gone on to release a steady stream of material on labels including Rinse and Hotflush that have seen shift from his grime-centred beginnings, through to funky and more recently an increasingly playful take on house. On the heels of his recent ‘Hyperion’ release on Tectonic, this latest EP on his own Roska Kicks & Snares label ‘This May Take A While’ sees this stylistic trend continuing, offering up five new tracks that lean towards dancefloor house structures. ‘Crawler’ opens proceedings on a snapping broken house tip that certainly betrays Goodlitt’s grime background as deep sub-bass swells against rumbling percussion fills and fluidly skipping snares, its sense of streamlined economy calling to mind hints of Martyn’s more pared-back explorations.
By contrast, ‘This May Take A While’ sets the controls for a crisp tech-house wander through rattling snare kicks and bright synth stabs that sees female vocal samples getting turned into a blur against precise gliding hi-hats, in what’s easily this EP’s most ‘main room’-oriented moment as traces of Chicago flicker at the very edges. Elsewhere, ‘NDOW’ offers up what was easily my favourite track here, ushering in a sinister roll through clattering grime rhythms, ominous bass chords and ghostly female vocal fragments that manages to combine an equal sense of grit and funkiness to spectacular effect. While there are certainly plenty of sweet rolling grooves on show here, there’s a constant sense of fangs lying just below the surface.
