If the secret to really being felt on the dance floor has its foundations in meticulous production then Phunk Investigation need not worry. Because new EP Back To The New Wave confirms that at some point in their eleven year career they found the blueprint to production success.The EPs title track sees menacing bass synths rumble seismically through a delicately woven mesh of tight hi-hats. Then comes a desolate, eerie hook that floats above the mix fleetingly before dispersing into the aural ether, like ink in water. This is stunning production: formidable yet refined, beefy yet intelligently balanced. Its production with a sophisticated taste for songcraft and an awareness that understated melody can be just as rousing, stirring and affecting as any melodically brazen floor-filler.B-side Bamboo is a disarming concoction of energetic, off-kilter synths, dissonant vocal samples and bone-snapping basslines. Theres also an irresistibly sharp remix of Back To The New Wave from luminary DJ and producer Stefano Noferini, a major player on the international dance scene and a mainstay of super-clubs across Europe. His pulsating house hits have become staples in sets from the likes of Carl Cox and Paul Van Dyk.Phunk Investigations own approach to the zenith of dance floor notoriety has been steady and unrelenting. Since forming in Italy back in 2000, the duo (Stefano Silvestri and Dino Maggiorana) have become hot property across Europe and beyond regularly appearing in high-profile guest DJ slots and amassing a remix catalogue that includes the likes of Simple Minds, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Boy George and Faithless. Theyve also collaborated with big-name DJs like Umek, John Acquaviva and Danny Tenaglia.But this EP evidences much more than an outfit living on former glories. If Back To The New Wave is the sound of Phunk Investigation turning to a musical past to find tech-house future, then expect to hear DJs across Europe slamming into reverse along with them sometime soon.