Kasey Taylor & Gai Barone – Distance Between Us / From Afar [Afterglow]

Afterglow closes out a successful 2024 with collaborative project from Kasey Taylor and Gai Barone. Based in Melbourne Australia, Kasey Taylor has firmly etched his place in the history of progressive music. A three-decade long career has yielded releases on John Digweed’s Bedrock Records, Hernan Cattaneo’s Sudbeat Music, Nick Warren’s The Soundgarden and his own long standing Vapour Recordings. Also highly regarded as a DJ, Kasey has travelled the world, playing events for Bedrock, Global Underground and Renaissance, while remaining a staple of Australia's premiere event, the world-renowned Rainbow Serpent Festival. Meanwhile, Gai Barone, the renowned Italian musician, has enjoyed similar success across his storied career. An unrivalled quest for the creation of something uniquely memorable and deeply moving has fuelled his sonic journey. Afterglow, Bedrock, Lost & Found, Renaissance and his own Patternized Recordings imprint have been landing spots for some of his most notable work, while progressive music trendsetters such as Guy J, Hernan Cattaneo, Nick Warren and more have been steadfast supporters along the way. With a long-standing relationship with Afterglow firmly in place, Gai now returns to the label, pairing with Kasey for the first time ever. In what is a progressive house lovers dream collaboration, the duo delivers two fresh productions 'Distance Between Us' and 'From Afar', alongside a remix from Four Candles.

Beginning with 'Distance Between Us' Kasey and Gai masterfully synthesize their talents for a nine minute emotional rollercoaster of tripped out progressive house. Thunderous grooves and stunning sound design, coupled with clusters of orbiting effects and utopian melodies carve out a path of pure sensory delight. The second of two breakdowns only further the duo's sonic sorcery, creating walls of shimmering arrays and heavily manipulated synths which travel to the very edges, before melting down in stylistic fashion for a properly grooved-out finale.  Beneath the cosmic qualities of 'Distance Between Us' lies the deeper and equally engaging 'From Afar'. This one forecast's it's brilliance through slow-burn repetition, steering into shadowy transgressions along the way, as hypnagogic motifs dance throughout the framework, consciously withholding energy while grooves pulse and effects orbit, creating a tension that eventually gets resolved as clusters burst open to reveal a mesmerizing finale.

Rounding out the release with the lone interpretation of 'Distance Between Us' is Four Candles who returns to the label for his second appearance. Hailing from the UK, Kris Brown aka Four Candles has been a fixture of the progressive house underground for over two decades. Operating under a variety of alias' across that time, it has been Kris' Four Candles moniker which has achieved measurable success. 2022 saw Four Candles forge a relationship with John Digweed's Bedrock Records beginning with his 'Devious' EP which landed in March of 2022, a project which would lead to six additional appearances on the storied UK imprint across the next two calendar years. In what has been a memorable 2024, one that has already seen Four Candles make an appearance on Quivver and Dave Seaman's Balance Mix compilation, along with standout projects for Mango Alley and Tenampa, the UK artist now returns to Afterglow with a smart rendition of 'Distance Between Us'. Adding further depth to the release, Four Candles opts for a quirky yet emotive approach here, focusing on a cohesive blend of swaying grooves, fragmented vocals and sweeping effects, while tastefully incorporating the original's distinctive sonic traits, sealing what is a feel-good journey to round out the release in style. Highly recommended. 

Buy: https://tinyurl.com/9kpvsmtp

Release Date: 28-11-2023

Release Promo: http://releasepromo.com

🎹 Spotify: http://bit.ly/ProgAstroSpotify
► YouTube: http://bit.ly/ProgressiveAstronautSubscribe
► Soundcloud: http://bit.ly/ProgressiveAstronautSC
► Website: http://bit.ly/ProgressiveAstronautWEB
► Facebook: http://bit.ly/ProgressiveAstronautFB
► Twitter: http://bit.ly/ProgressiveAstronautTW
► Instagram: http://bit.ly/ProgressiveAstronautIG