Tatham, Mensah, Lord & Ranks 6th

Starting 2020 like they mean to go on, West London's 2000 Black crew serves up an essential four-tracker created during jam sessions between regular collaborators Kaidi Tatham, Akwasi Mensah, Matt Lord and Dennis "Dego" McFarlane (Ranks). As with their previous collaborative releases, its' four tracks variously join the dots between deep house, bruk, jazz-funk and mellower flavours. As usual, the beats are tight and weighty, the musicianship exceptional (Kaidi's keys-playing being a particular highlight), the chords deep and the lead lines memorable. While all four tracks are excellent, our picks are the rubbery bruk-up bliss of "Return of Pastor Shadrach" and the sun-kissed broken house warmth of "Life After Subway".