“I want to build the vibe from the start and not hammer it”, says Swoose, when asked about his Sónar debut. The Belfast native and former Printworks resident will be one of the openers on the brand new SonarLab x Printworks: a match made in heaven.

The Northern Irish producer and DJ wanted to reflect this same attitude on SonarMix 039 when he set up to record it in his flat in London. “Originally I had planned to make a mix of my unreleased music but I might have bitten off more than I could chew.” So he changed track and recorded a mix that represents where he’s at as a DJ right now. “I wanted to keep the first 30 minutes stripped back, and build the groove, and then pick up the pace with the 2nd half of the mix.”

Swoose’s retro-futurist vision of club music is in evidence from the very first tracks. Productions by little-known artists like Psychedelic Research Lab and Designer Loops are side-by-side with names like Jeff Mills, whose track ‘In Da Bush’ is a highlight. Swoose himself picks out his own track ‘Cubensis’: “It’s an upcoming track due out this month on trUst. First time sharing it with the world!”

Sophisticated house and hedonistic psychedelia meet shades of trance and 90s IDM over 60 seamlessly mixed minutes. It’s a perfect warm-up for his Saturday at Sónar by Night. “I cut my teeth warming up crowds in my hometown Belfast so it will be dope to do the same in another city I have called home,” in the words of the man himself. 

Tracklist:

Psychedelic Research Lab - Tarenah (Sleepwalker Mix)

Kiddmisha - Freaktown

Designer Loops - Funky Funky Makossa

Relative Progress - E’s Theory

Feet First - System Of Love

CK - Faker

Taslo - Swop Shop

Relative Progress - Getting There

Malin Genie - Skump

Jeff Mills - In Da Bush

DJ Linus - Giant Disco

Cockroach - Pearl (Bright Edit)

Swoose - Cubensis

Mad.Again - Overdrive

OHM - Oceanic