Session Victim - Needledrop [Night Time Stories]

The German duo of Hauke Freer and Matthias Reiling are no strangers to releasing quality full-length albums, and while rising through a demanding DJ community, they have previously released three consecutive albums on the fashionable Delusions of Grandeur label, culminating in "Listen To Your Heart" in 2017.

Their latest and fourth studio album, set to be released on 'Night Time Stories', the London-based sister label of the coveted 'LateNightTales', marks a notable move towards the downtempo dynamics of artists like Nightmares on Wax, DJ Shadow, and Portishead. Artists who have exerted a strong influence on the variety of Session Victim's production over the last decade. 'Needledrop' offers a suite of both uplifting and easy-listening moments, individually refined and understated, yet cohesive with the musical honesty and unimpeachable credentials we know from the production duo Session Victim.

As accomplished producers, Session Victim have intended to deliver a characteristic body of work for uninterrupted playback, and with 'Needledrop' they have arrived with significant inspiration from the richly textured and subtly layered jazz and soul compositions that found their way into late 90s trip hop. Merging a variety of live instrumentation and organic grooves through their intuitive sampling sessions, Session Victim's fourth album succeeds in actively engaging the listener's mood and intelligence in equal measure.

A setting, a mood, all exposed to the almost random dropping of the stylus on a vinyl record; 'Needledrop', as the name suggests, positions Session Victim among the highest quality works of downtempo by offering a genuine sense of intuition in their production approach; entirely natural in composition but impeccably precise in execution.

The album's first track, ‘Bad Weather Mates’, sets the tone with a palette of retro soul and the warm feel of instrumental hip hop that continues into ‘Still High’; an authentic display of their strengths as record collectors and their subtlety as producers.

Significant commitment is required to do so, yet Session Victim has shown experienced restraint in preventing the album's tracks from being drawn back into a 4/4 dancefloor formula while retaining a fusion of jazz, electronics, and low-speed house for which their energetic international DJ sets have become synonymous.

The tracks ‘The Pain’, ‘No Sky, Blue Sound’ and ‘Glimmer’ incorporate electronic touches when necessary, skilfully keeping the original broken groove intact.

With this album, Session Victim has focused their attention on a large arsenal of dusty influences on forgotten vinyl, 90s computer games and beyond, rediscovering the intuitive and playful sides of their production personalities, while also demonstrating their cherished musical knowledge.