Frank & Tony - After All [Smallville Records]

It feels like Frank & Tony and Smallville have been on the same musical wavelength forever. Our musical paths have crossed again and again throughout the years, and we have always shared many of the same values: putting out quality music that stands the test of time, steadily growing, never ceasing to follow our own path, and never following trends.

Frank & Tony is the collaborative identity of Scissor & Thread co-founders Francis Harris and Anthony Collins aka Grant. Both have been long-time mainstays of the underground, with material under their own names and numerous other aliases, shaping the musical landscape of House, Techno and beyond since the turn of the millennium. Both lived together in New York and, as Frank & Tony, have released multiple albums and numerous EPs on their own label, as well as on Tokyo's Mule Musiq and Pacific Rhythm. Now, they are warmly welcomed to the Smallville Records catalogue with their latest collection of works.

Ways Of Mine leads the A-Side and showcases the duo’s signature deep hypnotic house style, with gentle enveloping pads, cascading metallic chimes, psychedelic spoken word, and dreamy, dubby keys floating above a solid bouncing rhythm section.

To open the B-Side, the title track After All unfurls a subtly blossoming chord sequence, shuffling drums, and jagged bass stabs at its core, all with delicate undertones, while the second half introduces more dynamic rhythmic elements and intertwined melodic touches. Dimension closes the release, going deeper with saturated ethereal pads, bubbling resonant arpeggio lines, crisp heavily swung drums, jazzy keys, and delayed vocal choruses.

After All features full artwork by Stefan Marx.