Yotto - Another Riff for the Good Times / Daydreaming (Anjunadeep)

Consistently creating clean and transcendent beats, Yotto has long secured his place amongst Anjunadeep’s heavyweight roster of electronic talent. The Finnish DJ’s latest offering has two tracks of club-friendly harmonies along with their extended mixes, both seamlessly combining melodic tempos with irresistible build-ups and breakdowns. You know what is coming as a Yotto track progresses, it is not teased as much as it could be but hearing that tempo switch is still a slice of audial heaven.

A long-time fellow of Anjunadeep, Yotto has recently reached out further to hatch his own label Odd One Out, one to watch for the near-future. He has been something of a mainstay of the international club scene of the last five years, though often does not receive the same credit in the mainstream as label-mates such as Andrew Beyer or Lane 8. There may be a myriad of reasons for this, but the volume and effort Yotto puts into releases will surely not be one considering his impressive back catalogue, especially since his album debuted in 2018.

This latest release showcases a DJ who has mastered their sound to an enviable degree. As often the case with Anjunadeep EPs, the extended mixes produce that slow burn so well that it is hard to go back to the edited versions. Those who like their house tracks short and sweet would not even fault these six-minute mixes, which surely just accentuate the journey of discovery and dancing. Both tracks manage to ignite in us a vibe of awakening and that rush of feelings we all know so well.

​Daydreaming is perhaps the more complex of the tracks, working so well due to its dramatic, horror movie-esque synths over almost playful chimes and high-pitched, childlike samples - producing impressive emotional depth even by Yotto’s standards. Though if pitting the tracks against one another (not always recommended!), it has to be concluded that Another Riff for the Good Times may win most hearts as it simply secures what its own title suggests: a damn good riff. The focus throughout is on the melody instead of delving into the abstract. Even so, the song title is much too modest, giving its highly impassioned harmony too little credit. It is nonetheless remarkable that both tracks sync together, creating an uplifting atmosphere which would make any audiophile immediately dive into Yotto’s discography. And rightly so.