Patterns of Vibration by Steffi x Virginia
Positivity shining through
Like Steffi's recent solo work (check The Red Hunter) Patterns of Vibration, her new collaboration with Virginia (their first since 2019's Work A Change) flexes the same brawny House / Electro muscles. And while The Red Hunter worked, Virginia's sassy and classy, club-friendly vocal, top-lining all eight tracks, elevates things a notch or two further; particular favourites include Nightflight, with its melancholy synth chords, and Walk With Me, with it's plaintive Acid jabs.
With the ubiquitous gloss of dazzling vocal hooks it's easy to overlook the solid foundation on which everything is built. Steffi handles her analogue gear with adroit aplomb; punchy kick drums and searing synth stabs sit alongside dampered, throbbing bass and warm Kompakt rhythms. Opening track Touching-U perfectly captures her patient building of layers before Virginia steps in.
Recorded over a three month period in their Candy Mountain studio in the Portuguese countryside, their goal was to let the positivity shine through!
. I'd say they've excelled.