It stands to reason that even on an island known for house, trance, hardstyle and foam, there would have to be some small beacon of bass music, right? Drum & bass is truly everywhere, after all, and no population anywhere exclusively only likes one type of music, even Ibiza. That said, we in the EDM world really haven’t had much proof that there’s a much faster, more syncopated heartbeat anywhere on the world’s most infamous party island. Enter: Balearic Breaks, the new imprint whose goal is to carve out a sweet little D&B space in the heart of House Island.
Founded by Darren Jay, co-owner of the 30-year strong AWOL name, former Metalheadz manager and
former resident with Ibiza events promoter Together and club Amnesia and founder of the BassFace Ibiza brand Alex Herbert, Balearic Breaks is the first real push to get a drum & bass label up and running out of Ibiza. The heads clearly have the cachet, so the next step is to see if they can bring the A&R to make it work. Luckily, they’ve pulled a pretty big stunner right out of the gate.
Despite being a relative newcomer, Simon Splice has already proven himself as one of the most technically clean and musically diverse producers on the scene with his two EPs on Chris Inperspective’s Eloisa Records. Now he’s branched out even more for Balearic Breaks, splashing out two soulful liquid tracks due out this Friday, June 25 for their debut release.
The two-sided single “Dance With Me/Life Goes On” is all about classic summer jam vibes with an edge. The b side “Life Goes On” features vocalist Ewan Sim in an emotive, existential examination of the wheels of time while Splice’s equally evocative synths push the track into an even more esoteric space while the liquidy, snare-heavy beat grounds and drives it. Soulful and introspective, “Life Goes On” works on the summer sunset dancefloor or on a contemplative road trip.
Today’s premiere is the single’s a side, “Dance With Me.” While also evocative of early 00s liquid, this track has some of Splice’s darker edge showing through the expertly crafted snares, piano-based melodies and ambient, layered sound design. The vox sample is also classic early liquid and therein lies some of the edge, as it’s a dissonant key to the more major piano parts. Also in a few spots there’s a cool sine wave sub bass that hurtles through all this pretty, light melody and snare work. It’s a fun jolt for the bass heads and lets fans know that, despite these tracks being squarely in the liquid camp, Simon Splice is clearly not finished with hard D&B.
The marriage of Balearic Breaks and Simon Splice is perfect for the imprint’s first release. While not jarring to a rave scene that’s based on melody and summer vibes, the signing of Simon Splice and the tracks themselves promise a little deep bass for the underground heads in all of us. The scene can likely expect a lot of musical diversity out of this label just as much as curated party vibes. Stay tuned.
“Dance With Me”/”Live Goes On” drop on Balearic Breaks tomorrow, Friday June 25. Click here to pre-order or pre-save.
