With the culmination of the prior year came Mao's lush No Love EP, encompassing all the immersive elements the duo has been steadily supplying to their craft, and while the EP was intended also to offer a light for forthcoming material of theirs, namely, a new album, it was sure to also inspire interpretations from ambitious artists and producers alike, and today we're gifted with the first of what we hope will be many more reworkings. Luvian is the first individual we've come across taking to the aforementined body of work, and his incredible sonic caressing of the title-track is an effort that we weren't willing to ignore. With emphatic warmth pumped into the original, the UK producer ushers in an aura of emotional electricity, but on a very light scale, making the effort remarkably easy on the ears. The entire affair fails to overwhelm at any point, and the myriad elements embedded within, the broken rhythms and alluring vocal loops, layered synths, and minimalist percussion, contribute to a slow-burning instrumental ballad that will suffice stupendously as either an early-morning listen, or a starry nighttime anthem.
Mao