Last summer the balmy grooves and sun-kissed soundscapes of Reuben Vaun Smith‘s debut, Warm Nights, provided a perfect soundtrack to the everlasting heat wave. This year we might not have had as much luck with the weather, but an Indian summer could still be on the cards with the help of Reuben’s sophomore LP: Sounds From The Workshop.
Coming once again via Soundway Records, the album signals a more refined, mature sound which he’s been honing through lockdown from his home base in Yorkshire. Inspired by an earlier trip sailing along the southern coast of Spain, Reuben headed into the studio with a few friends and his brother to channel these memories through live instrumentation and programming. With nods to soca, funk, trip hop and benga throughout, the 15 tracks fuse fuzzy Balearic beats with Afro-Caribbean synth lines, funk-driven guitar lines and distant vocals.
Sounds From The Workshop is out on 27th August via Soundway Records.
Stamp The Wax · Reuben Vaun Smith – El Shiggy (STW Premiere)
