Daphni – Face To Face

Perhaps it was only a matter of time before Dan Snaith was asked to contribute to fabric’s long-running mix series, FABRICLIVE. He’s helming ‘FABRICLIVE 93’, following in the footsteps of Omar-S, Shackleton and Ricardo Villalobos (the DJ he most associates with the club) to create a collection of completely new Daphni tracks, and four edits. That’s 27 tracks in total. ‘Face To Face’ kicks off the mix, and it’s a storming return. House beats are gradually layered with more minute percussive elements before a funk-laden, bassy guitar line comes in and propels the track forward. As it moves towards its climax, distorted, repeated vocals come in, and little tweaks to the tone and reverb on the guitar keep things fresh, intriguing and constantly energetic over the course of nearly six minutes. Aside from its pulsating nature though, one of the most exciting aspects of ‘Face To Face’ is wondering how it ties up with the rest of the mix. Dan himself has stated that he created the collection in situ, making entirely new music to play alongside tracks instead of finding existing tunes to feed in. From ‘Face To Face’, it’s easy to hear how ‘FABRICLIVE 93’ has the potential to shoot off into all kinds of directions while still retaining that club-ready aesthetic. It’s pretty much the ultimate track to ramp up anticipation for that first full-length Daphni record in half a decade.