CKSNL: Orlando EP
Baker Street

An aural evocation of laid-back summer splendour and warm beachside breezes, CKSNL's (pronounced Coksinelle) Orlando EP is the debut outing from French duo Grégoire Proux and Adrien Brehu for the Leeds-based Baker Street imprint. Setting the EP's tone, “Kristal” strolls into view with an infectious house pulse and early morning atmospherics. Echo-laden voice fragments add to the tune's soulful'n'summery vibe, and the “Brother, brother, brother” vocal snippet can't help but bring to mind Marvin Gaye's “What's Going On?”

By comparison, CKSNL's second original, “Orlando,” is a tad punchier though no less appealing for being so. There's still warmth aplenty but also a thicker synth dimension to go along with funky bass lines and a tight percussion-enhanced beat. Punchier still is the “Dub Mix” of “Orlando” provided by Ooft! (Glasgow-based Ali Herron), which amplifies the original with a propulsively jacking feel while also lathering it with cymbals, vocal accents, and a squiggly synth line whose serpentine movement adds a subtle progressive vibe to the proceedings. Whether prepared by CKSN or Ooft!, uplifting house is the main item on the EP's menu, and it's lush and tasty indeed.

August-September 2013