The Pop Corporation

We can all fall foul of listening to something talking about their mental health issues and meanly talking about self indulgence, as some enormo star talks about how lonely they’ve felt in their condo, but sincerely, there was a moment in Logic1000’s timeline where it looked like we were going to watch her vanish completely from our radar.

After dazzling everyone with some essential releases, she began to fold into herself, but since becoming a mother and going through therapy, she’s emerged with a debut LP which sure is fun to listen to, but also, shows you the resilience of the person who made it. Triumph over adversity might just have been the thing that warmed up the palate of intelligent beat production and synth programming.

And while it can often be difficult to say why one dance music long player works and another doesn’t, that’s not the case here. Samantha Poulter has made one of the finest dance records in ages, and at each turn, it’s clear to see that her taking a step back and the reevaluation has done her the world of good.

While there’s undeniable sweetness and a lightness of touch melodically, there’s an emotional swell that is hard-wired into the tracks that gives any melancholia a euphoric feeling. After all, isn’t that what all the best dance music has in it’s arsenal? Think of early house, disco, Hi NRG, Detroit techno – the headiness is often coupled with swells of emotion that make your arms go directly into the air.

‘Mother’, Poulter’s debut album, is riddled with all the stuff you sorely love about dancing. It’s dynamic, it’s interesting, it’s base level fun, it’s actively nourishing and intelligent. The open is a moody breaks affair, which makes way for the glorious ‘Promises’ (featuring Rochelle Jordan) which is crying out to be an instant classic summer chugger.

‘Self To Blame’ (featuring Kayla Blackmon) is another slice of euphoric house, but it’s when the groove goes deeper that the LP really gets it’s hooks in you, as we see in the dynamite ‘Can’t Let Go’ and the skittering ‘All U Like’ which will make you want to remove your top within seconds of it dropping.

There’s filters and wubs, but ultimately a playful elegance that pervades the whole LP, which really makes ‘Mother’ feel like it has huge crossover potential despite being unequivocally a house album for people who listen to dance music. There’s intricacies and heady stuff, but it’s all so accessible.

While many of clubland’s heavy hitters of late have seen themselves become big names in the underground, ‘Mother’ feels like it ticks all of those boxes, but sincerely could find itself in the same territory as say, The Chemical Brothers or Disclosure, even if the Poulter’s music is markedly different from the aforementioned.

We’re reminded of those huge releases that found themselves breaking out from the dance niche and finding themselves springing outward. It’s wonderful to listen to and it would be wonderful to see how far this album can run. It of course, very much depends on the artist herself, who seems to be doing things their own way, which is obviously a huge factor in how fabulous this album sounds.

Either way, this is a top tier release and deserves to be an instant classic. Don’t sleep on this.