Will Long – Maroon / Pink

Label: Smalltown Supersound – STS32412
Format: Vinyl, 12", EP
Country: UK, Europe & US
Released: Mar 16, 2018
Genre: Electronic
Style: Deep House, House

Will Long's Maroon / Pink continues the political and philosophical framework that runs through Long Trax 2 — an ongoing criticism of cultural stasis, conveyed via minimal synthesizers, sampler and rhythm machine. A Barack Obama sample opens the record with the words "nothing's changed," and what follows confirms that Long means every word of the album's implicit argument: that dancefloors should not be the only places where safety and equality are felt, and that urgency and empathy are more necessary than optimism when looking at what remains unaccomplished.

That's The Way It Goes and We Tend To Forget move with the contemplative, inward-facing deep house that defines Long's approach — minimal and melancholic, the emotional register refusing to tip into celebration when the surrounding context demands something more honest. Music that asks the listener to carry something out of the room with them. Post-house philosophy in its most direct and considered form.

A. That's The Way It Goes
B. We Tend To Forget