Byron The Aquarius One Of A Kind (Love Affair)

• 1. A New Life
• 2. The Last Mile Of The Way
• 3. I Be Like Dat
• 4. 4 Mike Huckaby

The 2020s revival of Leeds label Hard Times - a stalwart of the mid-to-late-90s UK house scene - continues apace. Their latest must-check four-tracker comes courtesy of prolific, Atlanta-based producer Byron The Aquarius - an artist known for the consistent quality of his work. As expected, there's plenty to admire across the EP, from the richly deep, warming, melodious and rhythmically shuffling opener 'A New Life', to the heartfelt tribute to a late, great Detroit deep house don that is the impeccable '4 Mike Huckaby'. Sandwiched in between you'll find the Afro-tinged Masters At Work style beats and heady Rhodes chords of 'The Last Mile of the Way', and the chunky, bumpin' and bass-heavy brilliance of peak-time stomper 'Be Like Dat', where Todd Edwards style vocal cut-ups catch the ear.