"After releasing the debut of one of Footwork’s most esteemed veterans earlier this year with Traxman's LP, now we’ve decided to highlight the work of one of Footwork’s youngest and most promising producers.
At just 18, Young Smoke a.k.a. Chicago’s David Davis has carved out an idiosyncratic and very listenable niche within footwork. Producing from a young age and coming with an intentional conceptual angle, the music on 'Space Zone' carries all the hallmarks and framework of classic footwork -heavy bass and 160bpm rhythms- but with a lightness of touch and the conceptual abstraction of space themes. Where older producers reference space through typically sampling the spacey funk of the 70’s era to repetitive and aggressive effect, Young Smoke's music uses self-made samples from his arsenal of software synthesisers. The result has an aquatic atmosphere that engages the listener's imagination and hints at narratives behind the music. Also, rarely for footwork, he’s not afraid to inject his tracks with overt melodies.
Space Zone’s techno-like atmosphere of bleeps, effects and swirling chords and his melodic freshness is almost completely Davis' own creation. Whilst the sci-fi narratives strongly remind one of Drexciya’s pulse patterns and messages from the deep, the way tracks build rhythmically and melodically resonate strongly with early drum'n'bass."
