Andy Ash’s When The Sunlight Comes lands on Departure Lounge Records with a kind of ease that suits the label’s widening orbit. Brandon Pinel’s imprint has mostly been a home for his Ode to 97 material, but this release points outward, bringing in a Liverpudlian producer whose sound sits comfortably between deep club function and more inward-looking detail.
The strongest thread here is texture. Ash lets melodic fragments, bright electronics and rounded acid lines do their work without overcrowding the groove. The title track leans into that open, sunlit house feel, while Sunrise Acid pushes the mood into something more misted and early-hours, still danceable but less direct in its emotional pull.
Flabaire’s remix of Sunrise Acid shifts the frame nicely, turning the original into a dreamy, acid-flecked electro cut rather than simply tightening it for the floor. Elsewhere, Deep Edge brings a Hammond-laced mid-tempo shuffle, and 3 Feet East is the most clearly peak-time-minded moment, built with a little more forward pressure.
It’s a balanced record: warm, nostalgic, useful for DJs, but not reduced to utility. When The Sunlight Comes is available via Bandcamp: https://odeto97.bandcamp.com/album/when-the-sunlight-comes
