Hot Natured & Ali Love - Benediction

If there has been one dominant sound in dance music this year then it has been the resurgence of classic house. Led by The 2 Bears and carried on most successfully by the likes of Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, reverential deep house has been everywhere this year. It’s easy to see why. There is timelessness to a good house groove and it is a sound that fits in incredibly easy on any dance floor, in any city in the country. Hot Natured (the production duo of Jamie Jones and Lee Foss) in collaboration with Ali Love are obviously completely in tune with this revival and their latest single ‘Benediction’ is a classily smooth cut of slinky Chicago-inspired vibes.

The best thing about ‘Benediction’ is it is not just a witless banger. The beats are lovingly understated and enlivened by some gorgeous sampled strings, much like those used in classics like ‘Strings Of Life’ and Inner City’s ‘Good Life’. Ali Love’s smooth and gilding vocals provide a nice hook and the whole package is very effective. The sound does admittedly veer very close to pastiche but there is enough class here to lift it above average.