Silkie is relaunching his Antisocial Records label later this week with a new EP, ‘Kolo / Real Deal’. Have an exclusive first listen to ‘Real Deal’ below.
After spending the past three years focusing on other projects – including his new UKG label Bedroom Rat Records and the bass music production education platform Antisocial Audio – West London heavyweight Silkie is rebooting his influential, dubstep-focused imprint with a new two-tracker. Set for release this Friday (4th October), ‘Kolo / Real Deal’ marks the producer’s first release under the Silkie moniker since his 2021 LP, ‘Panorama’, on Mala’s Deep Medi Musik imprint, and harks to the genre’s history and contemporary in equal measure.
Opener ‘Kolo’ is a proper sleazy stepper, with towering snares, deep, juddery sub-bass and crisp beats, whilst ‘Real Deal’ journeys through the genre’s melodic offshoots, riding on starry-eyed synths, pitched-up vocals and a subdued yet grooving bassline. They’re two totally different iterations of Silkie’s funk-inflected sound primed to usher the label into its next phase.
Speaking to DJ Mag, Silkie shared: “I’m always trying to explore different chords that I haven’t tried before, and ‘Real Deal’ was a real experimentation in that field. I wanted to incorporate a little half-step break, then I did a lot of work on the vocals, weaving them into the chords, and finally I felt like it needed a more funky bassline.”
“I’m really excited for the relaunch of Antisocial Records and to get my music out there that’s been burning a hole in my computer,” he added. “I hope for it to be an outlet not just for my music, but also music by other Antisocial members and other people out there making new and different sounds focused on bass and harmony.”
‘Kolo / Real Deal’ is out 4th October via Antisocial Records. Pre-order the EP here, and have an exclusive first listen to ‘Real Deal’ below.
Read DJ Mag’s feature on the rise, fall and revival of UK dubplate culture, and check out Oli Warwick’s recent interview with purple dubstep pioneer, Joker here.